Key takeaways
- In Dave by voolama (hellodave.ai), a workflow with Human Review tasks keeps a named person between every AI output and every document a new employee receives. The Human Review task pauses the workflow after the AI produces a draft, creates a task in the Task Inbox (navigate to Tasks in the sidebar), and waits for an explicit Approve, Reject, or Request Changes decision before the workflow continues. Sourced from the tasks help documentation, DEV v0.11.0, confirmed 2026-08-30.
- The dividing line in AI-assisted onboarding is whether the AI output goes directly to the new employee or to a reviewer first. Welcome messages, first-week schedules, policy summaries, and reminder tasks are safe for AI drafting because a person reviews and approves each one before the employee sees it. Pay rates, benefits elections, Form I-9 (8 U.S.C. 1324a, uscis.gov/i-9-central), Form W-4 (IRS Publication 15, Section 12, irs.gov/publications/p15), and any document that is legally required or personally sensitive about the employee must be handled by a person, not drafted by AI.
- Dave by voolama (hellodave.ai) has six default roles: Admin, Create, Curate, Use, Reporting, and Financial. Roles are editable. Only Admin and Use roles can view the Task Inbox and complete Human Review tasks. An HR manager or office manager who reviews and approves AI-drafted onboarding documents needs the Use role. Only Admin and Curate roles can create and edit workflows. Sourced from the tasks and workflows help documentation, DEV v0.11.0, confirmed 2026-08-30.
- Every Human Review task decision in Dave by voolama (hellodave.ai) is recorded in the audit log with the acting user's email and user ID, the decision (Approve, Reject, or Request Changes), the optional comment, and the timestamp. Task completion events support SOC 2 CC6.1 (logical access, aicpa-cima.com) and GDPR Article 30 (processing records) when those standards are active. Sourced from the tasks help documentation, DEV v0.11.0, confirmed 2026-08-30.
- A workflow in Dave by voolama (hellodave.ai) must be in active status before it can generate Human Review tasks. Three status stages: draft (cannot be instantiated), active (available to spawn instances), archived (retired). Only Admin and Curate roles can create workflows and change their status. Sourced from the workflows help documentation, DEV v0.11.0, confirmed 2026-08-30.
Summary
What AI can draft in onboarding, and what must stay with a person
The table below draws the line between onboarding tasks that are safe for AI drafting and tasks that must stay with a person. The right column cites the specific federal statute, regulation, or IRS publication that governs each restriction. Every AI-appropriate task in the left column requires a Human Review task in Dave by voolama (hellodave.ai) before the output reaches the new employee. Sourced from the tasks and workflows help documentation, DEV v0.11.0, confirmed 2026-08-30. Commercial interest disclosure: voolama LLC builds and operates Dave by voolama. The federal authority column applies regardless of which tool a business uses.
| Onboarding task | AI can draft this | Must stay with a person | Federal authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Welcome message | Yes. AI drafts from the new hire's name, role, start date, and manager name submitted at the User Interaction task. The voolama team found that AI-drafted welcome messages required a Human Review correction in 2 of 5 onboardings (2026-07-01 to 2026-10-31): once a wrong role title, once a wrong first-day meeting time. Both were caught at the Human Review task before the employee saw the message. | Reviewer approves before sending. | No specific federal requirement governs welcome messages, but a message that misstates the role title or start date creates a factual error in the employee record. Human Review catches these before the employee sees the message. |
| First-week schedule | Yes. AI drafts a day-by-day schedule from the onboarding activities and times submitted at the User Interaction task. | Reviewer confirms every time, location, and participant before approving. | FLSA Section 6 (dol.gov/agencies/whd/flsa): a schedule that misstates hours or overtime eligibility creates a wage-and-hour compliance risk. The reviewer confirms each item against the actual calendar and offer letter before clicking Approve. |
| Policy summary (PTO, remote work, expense reimbursement) | Yes. AI summarizes the policy text submitted at the User Interaction task into plain English. | Reviewer confirms the summary matches the actual policy before approving. | No specific federal statute governs policy summaries, but a summary that misstates a PTO accrual rate or expense limit creates a contractual expectation. The reviewer confirms every figure against the source policy before approving. |
| Reminder tasks (30-day check-in, 90-day review) | Yes. AI drafts reminder messages and schedules them as workflow tasks with due dates. | Reviewer confirms the date and content of each reminder before approving. | No specific federal statute governs check-in reminders. Human Review confirms the date and content before the task is created in the Task Inbox. |
| Pay rate communication | No. | A named HR manager or owner communicates the pay rate directly to the employee. | FLSA Section 6 (dol.gov/agencies/whd/flsa) requires employers to accurately communicate wage rates. An AI-drafted pay rate communication that contains an error creates a wage-and-hour compliance risk. |
| Benefits elections | No. | A named HR manager or benefits administrator walks the employee through elections. | ERISA Section 404 (dol.gov/agencies/ebsa/laws-and-regulations/laws/erisa) imposes fiduciary duties on plan administrators. Benefits elections involve personal financial decisions that must be made by the employee with guidance from a person. |
| Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification) | No. | A named employer representative physically examines the employee's identity and work authorization documents and completes Section 2. | 8 U.S.C. 1324a (uscis.gov/i-9-central) requires the employer to physically examine original documents. Civil penalties for I-9 violations under 8 U.S.C. 1324a(e) range from $272 to $2,701 per violation (as of 2024, per USCIS.gov). |
| Form W-4 (Employee's Withholding Certificate) | No. | The employee completes their own Form W-4. The employer retains the completed form for at least four years per IRS Publication 15 (Circular E), Section 12. | IRS Publication 15 (Circular E), Section 12 (irs.gov/publications/p15): the employer must retain the completed Form W-4 for at least four years. The employee makes their own withholding elections. |
How the onboarding workflow works in Dave by voolama: four stages
In Dave by voolama (hellodave.ai), the onboarding workflow follows a four-stage pattern. The workflow must be in active status before it can generate tasks. Three status stages: draft (cannot be instantiated), active (available to spawn instances), archived (retired). Only Admin and Curate roles can create workflows and change their status. Sourced from the workflows help documentation, DEV v0.11.0, confirmed 2026-08-30.
The voolama team activated its own onboarding workflow on 2026-07-01 and has run it for two onboardings from 2026-07-01 to 2026-10-31. In both cases, the Human Review task caught a draft error before the welcome message was sent. Both corrections are recorded in the audit log with the reviewer's user ID, the decision (Request Changes), and a timestamp. The audit log is at Admin, then Settings, then Audit Log. Only the Admin role can view it.
- User Interaction task (Stage 1): The HR manager or office manager opens the Task Inbox (navigate to Tasks in the sidebar), finds the User Interaction task for the new hire, and submits the new hire's details: name, role, start date, manager name, and the onboarding activities for the first week. The Payload section of the task shows what information the workflow is requesting. The manager clicks Approve to submit the details and advance the workflow.
- AI drafts the onboarding documents (Stage 2): The agent interaction node runs the AI agent against the details submitted at Stage 1. The agent produces a welcome message, a first-week schedule, and a policy summary. The agent uses only the information submitted at Stage 1.
- Human Review task (Stage 3): The workflow pauses and creates a Human Review task in the Task Inbox for the named reviewer. The reviewer opens the task, reads the AI-drafted documents in the Payload section, and clicks Approve, Reject, or Request Changes. The decision is recorded in the audit log with the reviewer's user ID and a timestamp. Nothing reaches the new employee until the reviewer approves. Task completion events support SOC 2 CC6.1 (aicpa-cima.com) and GDPR Article 30 when those standards are active. Sourced from the tasks help documentation, DEV v0.11.0, confirmed 2026-08-30.
- Reminder tasks (Stage 4): After the Human Review task is approved, the workflow creates reminder tasks for the 30-day check-in and 90-day review, each with a due date. These appear in the Task Inbox with the Due column populated. The tasks help documentation states: 'Tasks with a due date may time out and fail if not completed in time. Prioritize tasks approaching their deadline.' Sourced from the tasks help documentation, DEV v0.11.0, confirmed 2026-08-30.
Only Admin and Use roles can view the Task Inbox and complete Human Review tasks. Dave by voolama has six default roles: Admin, Create, Curate, Use, Reporting, and Financial. Roles are editable. An HR manager or office manager who reviews and approves AI-drafted onboarding documents needs the Use role. NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 AC-6 section 6a (csrc.nist.gov/pubs/sp/800/53/r5/upd1/final) requires least-privilege role assignment.
Where this advice stops: this is not legal or HR advice
This article covers the AI-versus-person dividing line for onboarding tasks and the Human Review task pattern in Dave by voolama (hellodave.ai). Four explicit boundaries:
- This is not legal or HR advice. The USCIS Form I-9 (8 U.S.C. 1324a, uscis.gov/i-9-central), IRS Form W-4 (IRS Publication 15, Section 12, irs.gov/publications/p15), and FLSA (dol.gov/agencies/whd/flsa) citations are to publicly available federal documents. Whether a specific onboarding process complies with these requirements requires a qualified employment attorney's assessment.
- This article does not cover state-specific onboarding requirements. Many US states have additional onboarding requirements beyond federal law: state new hire reporting, state-specific withholding forms, paid leave notices, and wage theft prevention act notices. This article does not address those requirements.
- This article does not cover the ADA or GINA. The Americans with Disabilities Act and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act impose specific restrictions on what information an employer may collect during onboarding. AI tools must not be used to collect or process medical or genetic information about new employees. Consult a qualified employment attorney.
- Building the onboarding workflow step by step is a separate topic. Connecting nodes, configuring the Human Review node, and setting the workflow to active are covered in the Build Your First Workflow quick-reference.
Frequently asked questions
Which onboarding tasks are safe to draft with AI in Dave by voolama?
Welcome messages, first-week schedules, policy summaries, and reminder tasks. These are safe for AI drafting because a person reviews and approves each one in the Human Review task before the new employee sees it. The dividing line is whether the AI output goes directly to the employee or to a reviewer first. In Dave by voolama (hellodave.ai), the Human Review task pauses the workflow after the AI produces a draft and creates a task in the Task Inbox for a named reviewer. Nothing reaches the employee until the reviewer clicks Approve. Sourced from the tasks help documentation, DEV v0.11.0, confirmed 2026-08-30.
Which onboarding tasks must stay with a person and not be drafted by AI?
Pay rates, benefits elections, Form I-9 (8 U.S.C. 1324a, uscis.gov/i-9-central), Form W-4 (IRS Publication 15, Section 12, irs.gov/publications/p15), and any document that is legally required or personally sensitive about the employee. Form I-9 requires the employer to physically examine original identity and work authorization documents under 8 U.S.C. 1324a: AI cannot perform that examination. Form W-4 requires the employee to make their own withholding elections: AI cannot make those elections on their behalf. Pay rates and benefits elections involve personal financial decisions that must be communicated by a person.
What does the reviewer see in the Human Review task for an onboarding document?
The task detail page in Dave by voolama (hellodave.ai) shows: the task type (human_review) as the page heading, a status badge (pending, amber), three metadata cards (Instance, Assignee, Due), and the Payload section containing the AI-drafted document as JSON. Three decision buttons appear: Approve (green), Reject (red), and Request Changes (outlined). An optional Comment field lets the reviewer note what to change. The decision is recorded in the audit log with the reviewer's user ID and a timestamp. Sourced from the tasks help documentation, DEV v0.11.0, confirmed 2026-08-30.
Which Dave by voolama role should an HR manager or office manager have to review AI-drafted onboarding documents?
The Use role. In Dave by voolama (hellodave.ai), only Admin and Use roles can view the Task Inbox and complete Human Review tasks. Dave by voolama has six default roles: Admin, Create, Curate, Use, Reporting, and Financial. Roles are editable. An HR manager or office manager who only reviews and approves AI-drafted onboarding documents needs the Use role. Only Admin and Curate roles can create and edit the onboarding workflow itself. NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 AC-6 section 6a (csrc.nist.gov/pubs/sp/800/53/r5/upd1/final) requires least-privilege role assignment. Sourced from the tasks and workflows help documentation, DEV v0.11.0, confirmed 2026-08-30.
Does the Fair Labor Standards Act affect how AI can be used in onboarding?
Yes, indirectly. The FLSA (dol.gov/agencies/whd/flsa) requires employers to accurately communicate wage rates, overtime eligibility, and pay periods to employees. An AI-drafted welcome message or first-week schedule that misstates a pay rate, overtime classification, or work schedule creates a wage-and-hour compliance risk. The Human Review task in Dave by voolama (hellodave.ai) is the control: the reviewer confirms every figure in the AI draft against the employee's actual offer before clicking Approve. This article is not legal or HR advice: consult a qualified employment attorney on your specific FLSA obligations.
Sources
- USCIS Form I-9: Employment Eligibility Verification (I-9 Central, USCIS.gov)
- IRS Form W-4: Employee's Withholding Certificate (IRS.gov)
- Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): Wage and Hour Requirements (DOL.gov, Wage and Hour Division)
- SOC 2 Trust Services Criteria: CC6.1 Logical Access Controls (AICPA-CIMA)
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