You can create an unlimited number of commonly used forms that you can send to team members (such as contracts), have them sign them electronically using Dropbox Sign and upload the signed forms to Deputy.
- Preparing to use templates
- Access signature templates
- Enable signature templates
- Create new document templates
- Edit existing document templates
- Delete existing templates
- Watch a video on creating signature templates
- Sample template document
Preparing to use templates
If you are preparing to use signature templates as part of new hire onboarding in Deputy HR, it's worth spending some time to consider the kind of information you need to send to your new hires and what you will need to collect from them.
Consider whether this information changes for each new hire. Is it consistent and fixed information such as the name of your workplace or dynamically changing information such as the name of the new hire?
Generally, the information entered into templates can be categorised into three groups:
| Information type |
What kind of data is entered? |
Who provides the data |
| 1. Fixed information that rarely changes for the role |
This is the information that you add to your Word or PDF document. We have provided a sample Word document. |
The HR manager or business manager would likely create this document as a one-off with periodic updates as required. |
| 2. Information entered by the hiring manager that changes | This is information that changes with each new hire such as the employee's name or their start date and is added to the form as a 'custom field' in Deputy. | This information would likely be entered by the hiring manager who may also be the HR manager or a location manager at each business location |
| 3. Information entered by your new hire |
This information is likely to be in the form of a signature from the new hire to indicate they accept the contract but you can ask them to submit any kinds of information you require. Remember, though, you also have onboarding questions to collect information from new hires and that may be more suitable for collecting information. |
The new hire will sign the template. |
Once you have decided on what type of information you need to add to your template document, you can start creating your document in Word or PDF. We've provided a sample to get you started, but you will need to customise it for your own needs.
Tips:
- Information from groups 2 and 3 from the above table should NOT be entered directly into your Word or PDF documents but it is important to leave sufficient space within the document for this information to be added later in Deputy as custom data fields.
- If you need to add text that you wish to function as a hyperlink you will need to add and configure this while setting up your template in Deputy. Do not add it to your pdf, text or .doc file or else the hyperlink will be treated as text and 'flattened'.
- While creating the document to serve as a base for your template, it's helpful to keep a separate list of the custom data fields you will need to add to fill the empty spaces later on in Deputy.
- When you are formatting the text in your document in Word or your text editor, you may wish to note the font and font size you are using so you can match it to the fonts and font sizes available when inserting the custom data fields in Deputy. Here is a list of available fonts in Deputy to complete the custom field data:
You can see in the below example that spaces within the Word document have purposefully been left blank and a separate list of data fields that will be inserted later in Deputy has also been created.
This example Word document uses Calibri size 12 font so we will use that when inserting the custom fields in Deputy later too so that all the text matches.
Once you have completed your Word or PDF document, made note of the custom fields you need to add in Deputy and saved the file to your computer, you are ready to upload it to Deputy. Deputy will accept the following file formats with a maximum size of 10MB per file:
- JPEG
- PNG
- DOC
- DOCX
You can create as many different signature templates as you need for each role or location in your business.
Note: Make sure you are satisfied with your document before uploading it to Deputy. Once you upload it and set up the template, if you want to change any content in the Word or PDF document itself, you will need to start the process of creating the template in Deputy again from the beginning. You can edit the template as it has been set up in Deputy, but changing the file you upload will require you to start again setting it up.
Access signature templates
System Administrators and Location Managers can access signature templates:
Via People tab
1. On the People page, click on Team documents from the menu on the left. Can't see the Deputy HR left hand side menu?
2. Click on Signature templates.
System Administrators can also access their document templates:
Via Business settings
1. Click on Business settings in the drop-down menu under your name.
2. Select the People tab and then select Manage signature templates.
Create new document templates
First time only tasks
1. Once you have access to signature templates, click on Enable to start configuring forms.
Note: you only need to enable the templates the first time you set this up. For subsequent templates, you can click on Manage templates.
To create templates
3. Choose or add the custom fields required to complete this template.
Custom fields are the fields where the text will change each time you send the document. The person sending out the onboarding invites will use these fields to customise the form for the new hire. You may have created a list of the custom fields that you need to use for this template when you prepared the document.
Note: you do not need to create a custom field for "Date signed" or "Employee signature" as these are fields that are already included on the form.
You can choose from the existing list in Deputy or add new fields by typing a field name in the Search field and clicking Add.
When you have added all the custom fields you need, click Set up template.
4. You will now be taken to a template generator, powered by Dropbox Sign.
Click OK to begin creating your template.
5. You can now add your selected custom fields to specific places in the template document you uploaded. Depending on which 'Signer' you select the top left-hand side drop-down menu will control who completes the fields you then insert into the template. Here's an explanation of what each of the 'signer' options mean:
-
Me (now) - these are fields that you, the creator of the template, want to add to the template now.
- Do not use the Name and Email fields from this option, use the Name and Email address options from the pink Sender signer options).
- If the document you prepared earlier is set up well already, you may not need to add anything at all using this signer selection. One exception is if you want to add text to your template that functions as a hyperlink.
- Sender - these are the fields that the hiring manager has to complete when they send the new hire the document to sign (Use the Name and Email address fields from this menu if required )
- Team Member - These are the fields that the new hire signing the document will complete.
6. To get started, go to the drop-down menu on the top left-hand side and change the Signer field to Sender. The sender is the person who will be sending out this document or form to new hires.
7. Drag the pink Text Box field to the point in the document where you need it to appear. If it's not showing the correct custom field from the list you configured in Step 7, simply click on the field in the document and a menu will appear on the right-hand side of the window.
You can select the correct field from the menu "What text goes here?". You can also configure other aspects of the text appearance using the panel of settings on the right-hand side if you need. You can click on the inserted text box to widen it or shorten it as required.
8.It's recommended to enter some 'example' free text in the Placeholder text field so that if the manager sending out the document wants to preview the template before sending it, they will get a better idea of how it will look. If you don't add any placeholder text then this field will display as blank during the template preview. This text will not be sent to new hires.
9. Continue to drag pink text boxes into the field and select their purpose from the menu on the right-hand side, until you have placed one in every position where you require a custom field to be completed by the hiring manager.
10. Click on the Signer sector again and select Team Member.
11. Now drag the blue boxes into the document that represent fields that relate to the team member signing the document such as their name or where you need them to sign.
12. If you don't need a signature, but require an "I agree to terms" or "I have read the terms" checkbox, you can use the "Tickbox" field under the Signer "Team member" option. Just select Tickbox on the left-hand side and drag the box next to the statement you want a tick box to appear next to. The new hire would then be able to tick the box when they complete the form.
13. When you are happy with your custom fields for all three signer options, click Save template.
You will be returned to the Onboarding Settings page where your new template is listed. If you hover over the i icon you can see the description that was added when the template was created.
Managers can click on the document name to see a preview of how it looks, or what the document contains, before sending it to new hires for onboarding. As shown in the example below.
Note: The light grey 'example' text shown in the fields is pre-populated from what the manager setting up the template entered in the placeholder text field in Step 10. If no placeholder text was entered when the template was created then the field will appear blank in the preview.
When you are done previewing the template, just close the pop-up by clicking on the X on the top right-hand side.
Adding text to function as a hyperlink within your template
If you would like to add a hyperlink within your template so your new hires can click on it to read other information or another website, you will need to add and configure this while setting up your template in Deputy. Do not add hyperlinks to your pdf, text or .doc file or else the hyperlink will be treated as text and 'flattened' when uploaded to Deputy.
Instead, while you are creating new or editing existing templates, please:
1. Change the Signer field on the top left to Me (now).
2. Click and drag a Textbox into the correct position on my template and type the text you wish to display as the hyperlink.
3. On the right-hand side panel, under text options, tick the check box to indicate you want to use the text as a hyperlink. Enter the target address you want to link to in the Hyperlink URL field.
Editing existing document templates
You can edit some fields from an existing template that you created previously, but please note:
- If the information you want to change is within the file you uploaded in Step 2 of Create new document template then you can't use Edit template. You will have to edit your original file and then start again to create a new template to upload the new file.
- Any changes you make to edited templates will only affect documents sent to new hires after you save the changes and not any documents already sent out before the edit took place.
- If you find you need to resend onboarding forms and documents to a new hire where a template has been edited in the meantime then you should remove and re-add the edited documents to ensure the most up-to-date version is sent.
- The name of the Signature Template cannot be edited once it had been created.
1. Access your signature templates then click on the pencil icon next to the template title you wish to edit. Note: if you click on the name of the template instead of the pencil icon you will only see a preview of your template and will be unable to edit it.
2. If you need to remove a previously added custom field hover over the field name and click the cross to delete it. You can click Add field to add a new custom field then click Edit template.
4. You can now edit the placement of the custom data fields as detailed from Step 9 in Create new document templates.
Once you are happy with your changes click Save template to save the template.
Deleting document templates
If you want to delete a template you have set up you can do so by accessing your templates and clicking the trash bin icon next to the name of the template you wish to delete.
Note: when you click the trash bin icon, you will be asked once more if you want to delete this template permanently. Click Delete if you want to delete it.
If you delete a template, any employees that have already been onboarded using this template will not be affected, their completed forms will remain on their profile.
Watch a video on creating signature templates
Sample template document
We created a basic employment agreement as a sample document that you might like to customise for your organisation and use as a template document for onboarding.
There are instructions on the first page of the document that will help you customise the template for your business. Please customise the template and then delete this first page before you use the template for onboarding.
Disclaimer: Deputy provides this basic employment agreement template for general informational purposes only. It is designed to be customised by you to comply with the legal obligations that pertain to your business. Please note that employment laws can be complex and vary by state and territory within each country. Therefore, it's important to consult with a legal professional or labor expert to ensure full compliance with local regulations. This template is meant to serve as a general starting point and may require further customization to meet your specific business needs.