It's a good idea to have these items in place:

     1.  An employee handbook - This is a set of workplace

          rules and policies you want your employees to follow.

          It also explains the company policies regarding paid

          time off, jury duty pay, disciplinary actions, benefits

          and such as well as policies to insure compliance with

          laws regarding sexual harassment, drug-free workplace,

          antidiscrimination, Americans with disabilities and so

          forth.

     2.  Job descriptions - This outlines the major duties and

          job-specific expectations.  It's a good idea to mention

          that there is flexibility here...cross-training of staff and

          other (minor) task assignments may be given.

     3.  I-9 forms.  You can get these from the Citizenship and

          Immigration Service at www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-9.pdf

     Also, it's helpful to download the wage and hour rules from

     your state's Department of Labor.  You can also download

     the required federal and state workplace posters.  Most

     states also have a helpful compliance guide, as well as

     wage surveys.  Useful Oregon sites are www.oregon.gov/BOLI

     and http://www.qualityinfo.org/  For Washington, visit http://www.lni.wa.gov/

     and www.dol.wa.gov/business/hire.html  For federal labor

     laws and helpful hiring information, visit http://www.dol.gov/ and their

     online 'law advisor' at www.dol.gov/elaws/firststep/