induction-checklist-builder

---
name: induction-checklist-builder
description: Builds the induction checklist that ACAS's own guidance describes, split into what must happen on day one and what happens over the weeks after, with the warning ACAS itself gives against treating it as box-ticking built in rather than bolted on. It works out which items apply to a hospitality starter's first day versus their first months, pulls in whichever of the pack's other skills a venue already runs (right to work, fire induction, allergen training, probation review) as linked items rather than duplicated text, and flags a checklist signed off in one sitting as a warning sign, not a success. Use before a new starter's first day, and before a manager prints a template nobody has looked at since the last rewrite.
---

# The checklist that settles someone in, not the one that just gets signed

You give this the starter's name, start date and role, and which of this pack's other checks (right to work, fire safety induction, allergen training, new starter paperwork) already have their own record for this person. You get back a day-one list and a weeks-after list, cross-referenced to those other records rather than repeating them, with a flag if the whole thing gets signed off in one go.

## What it does

1. **Split the list the way ACAS's own template splits it: day one, then the weeks after, not one long list.** ACAS's checklist for induction of new staff covers a first-day section, practical essentials such as paperwork, site access, safety information, workspace, equipment and IT, and introductions to a line manager and a support contact, and a longer, later section with target dates covering team and organisation introductions, role expectations, policies, support available, and job-specific training. The skill keeps that same two-tier shape rather than flattening everything onto a single first-day sheet that nobody has time to actually do.
2. **State why a checklist exists, in ACAS's own words, before building one.** ACAS says "A checklist can be helpful" because "It can help the worker and line manager know what's been covered and when", and "This can help the worker settle in and understand what's expected of them." The purpose is a shared, dated record of what has actually happened, not a form for its own sake.
3. **Cross-reference this pack's other checks instead of duplicating them.** Where the venue already runs the right to work check, the fire safety induction, the allergen and food hygiene training record, or the new starter paperwork checklist from elsewhere in this pack, this checklist links to that record's own date rather than asking the manager to tick a second, shallower version of the same fact. A right to work check recorded twice, once properly and once as a checklist tick with no evidence behind it, is a liability, not a safeguard.
4. **Carry ACAS's own caution against box-ticking as a working rule, not a footnote.** ACAS states directly: "the induction should not be about just ticking boxes", and "The worker should feel supported and the process should help them become effective in their new role." The skill treats a checklist completed in full on day one, every box ticked within hours of the starter walking in, as a sign the process was rushed through rather than lived through, and flags it for the manager to look at again.
5. **Include the probation review as its own dated line, not folded into "settling in".** ACAS's own checklist carries the probation review as a specific step: "Review performance and inform them they have either passed probation, failed it or are having it extended." This skill links that step to the pack's own probation-review-log rather than inventing a second, informal version of the same decision.
6. **Give the starter their own copy of what was covered, not just the manager.** ACAS frames the checklist as something that helps "the worker and line manager" both know what has been covered; the skill's output is written so it can be shown to the starter, not kept in a manager-only file they never see.

## Then it checks

1. The checklist is split into day one and weeks-after sections, matching the shape ACAS itself uses.
2. Every item that has its own dedicated check elsewhere in this pack is linked to that record's date, never duplicated as a separate tick with no evidence.
3. The probation review line links to a dated entry in the probation review log, not a standalone tick.
4. No checklist is marked fully complete within the first working day without a flag raised for the manager to review.
5. A copy of the completed sections exists in a form the starter has actually seen, not only in a manager's file.
6. Every weeks-after item carries its own target date, not a blank "later".

Any check fails: name it, redo that step once. Failed twice: say what is wrong and stop.

## Rules
- Public information only.
- Never invent a fact, a number or a quote.
- Anything sent in someone's name says whose name it is.
- Never duplicate a fact that another skill in this pack already records properly (right to work, fire induction, allergens, probation); link to it instead.
- Never mark an item complete with no date attached.
- Never treat a same-day, fully-ticked checklist as success without flagging it for review.

## Built from
- Acas, "Checklist for induction of new staff", https://www.acas.org.uk/checklist-for-induction-of-new-staff, last updated 19 March 2026, read 4 November 2026: the day-one and weeks-after structure, the purpose statement, the box-ticking caution, and the probation review line behind every step.
- Health and Safety Executive, "New to the job: health and safety", https://www.hse.gov.uk/vulnerable-workers/new-to-the-job.htm, last updated 1 November 2024, read 4 November 2026: the basis for including a safety-information item on the day-one list, separate from any role-specific fire or allergen check held elsewhere in this pack.

# induction-checklist-builder

## You are given
The starter's name, role and start date. Which of this pack's other checks already have a dated record for this person: right-to-work-check, fire-safety-induction, allergen-and-food-hygiene-training-record, new-starter-paperwork-checklist, probation-review-log, with each record's own date where it exists. The manager's own day-one and weeks-after item list with target dates, and completion dates as they occur.

## Produce
Write into a `./induction-checklist-builder-output/` folder:

1. `day-one-checklist.csv` with columns: `item`, `source` (`linked_record` or `standalone`), `linked_record_type` (one of the other skills' names, or blank), `linked_record_date`, `completed`, `completed_date`. `completed` is `yes` or `no`. A `linked_record` item's `completed_date` must equal the date on the linked record, never a separately entered date.
2. `weeks-after-checklist.csv` with columns matching `day-one-checklist.csv`, plus `target_date`. Every row must have a non-blank `target_date`.
3. `probation-review-link.csv` with columns: `staff_name`, `probation_review_log_date`, `outcome`. Pulled directly from the probation-review-log output if supplied; left blank with a note if not yet available.
4. `same-day-completion-flag.md` stating whether every item across both checklists was marked complete on the starter's own start date, and if so, naming this as a flag for manager review rather than a pass.
5. `starter-copy.md` - a plain-English version of both checklists, written so the starter themself can read what has been covered and what is still to come, with no internal jargon or file references.
6. `gaps.md` - a numbered list of: any `linked_record` item with no matching record supplied; any item marked `completed: yes` with no `completed_date`; any `weeks-after-checklist.csv` row with a blank `target_date`; and the same-day completion flag if triggered.

## Rules
- Codex counts, links and records. It never decides what counts as "settled in", never invents a linked record's date, and never duplicates a fact another skill in this pack already owns.
- A `linked_record` item's completion date must come from the linked record, never entered independently, even if the manager supplies one.
- Every checklist fully completed within the starter's first working day triggers `same-day-completion-flag.md`; this is never suppressed or treated as a pass.
- Use British English, GBP and DD Month YYYY dates. No em dashes in any file you write.
- Every file ends with this line: this is a working document prepared for the owner to check against their own induction records and the other dated checks in this pack. It is not legal or HR advice.

## Return
The absolute path of each file written and the row count of each CSV. Which items are linked to another skill's record versus standalone. Whether the same-day completion flag was triggered. The probation review link status. The `gaps.md` item count.