01
5 gates
Before activation
Identity, documents (W-8BEN, passport), tax, paper, screening.
For program ops, compliance, and HR partners
Onboard contractors against one engagement record
You add a contractor on Tuesday. By Thursday their identity is verified, W-8BEN is filed, passport is uploaded, sanctions screening is clear, and bank details are confirmed. Five gates, one record. Nobody goes active until every gate is green.
Invites carry engagement contextW-8BEN, passport, bank details tracked liveSanctions and PEP screening built inPayout setup verified before activation
Operating tokens
What onboarding on Gruv looks like
02
Same week
Typical clearance
Most contractors clear within the week when they respond promptly.
03
Reason-coded
Blocks surface fast
Missing W-8BEN? Expired passport? Owners see the block and why.
04
One record
Across four teams
Compliance, ops, finance, and support read the same truth.
The capabilities behind every readiness gate
Each capability writes state to the engagement record. Downstream gates read it without re-prompting the worker or the reviewer.
Engagement-aware invites
The invite carries jurisdiction overlay and tax-form requirements. The contractor clicks one link and lands on the right record.
Identity binds on first sign-in
Authenticated identity locks to the engagement before any onboarding state commits. Wrong account cannot pollute the record.
Document lifecycle states
W-8BEN, passport, and bank verification track through missing, pending, approved, rejected, and expired. Reviewer notes attach at each transition.
Tax readiness (W-8BEN, W-9)
Tax profile state binds to the engagement. Missing W-8BEN or W-9 blocks activation instead of surfacing as a surprise during payout.
Sanctions and PEP screening
Sanctions and PEP screening runs at onboarding time, creates evidence on the engagement, and schedules a recheck cadence.
Payout setup verified before activation
Bank account, beneficiary name, payout policy, and routing all verified before the engagement goes active. No surprises on the first payout run.
How it works
How a contractor moves from invite to activated
Four steps. Each one writes state to the same engagement record so the next gate reads truth.
gruv.app › onboarding › invite
onboardingworkersnew
Step 1 of 4Invite contractor
Worker nameMason Park
Email[email protected]
Engagementeng_3f4a · Brand strategy
JurisdictionUnited States · CA
Compensation$8,500 / month
Start date2026-05-20
Invite ready3 / 3
Engagement attached
Localized welcome flow selected
Tax-form pack scoped
Readiness gates
Six checks the contractor has to clear before activation.
Each gate has its own ready or blocked state with reason codes for follow-up. Onboarding only completes when every gate is satisfied.
Identity
Aria Patel, engagement ENG-9824
Status
Bound
Verified at 09:14 BST
Auth providerVerified
Engagement matchENG-9824
Bound at08 May 2026
Without AoR vs with Gruv
Replace inbox archaeology with one engagement record that finance, compliance, ops, and support all read.
Without AoR
W-8BEN lands in an inbox. Passport drifts across Google Drive folders. Sanctions screening sits in a second vendor. Bank details hide in a spreadsheet.
With Gruv AoR
One engagement record with five gate states, reviewer identity, reason codes, and an audit-ready timeline. Ops, finance, and legal read the same screen.
Engagement-aware invites
The invite carries engagement context. The contractor starts from the right record on the first click.
Identity binds first
Authenticated identity binds to the engagement before any onboarding state commits. Wrong account cannot pollute the record.
Four teams, one engagement record
Onboarding works when every team writes to the same record. Reviewer identity, gate state, and reason codes attach so each team picks up exactly where the last one left off.
Compliance & legal
Owns the assessment trail
Reads classification result, W-8BEN status, sanctions screening, and signed-paper readiness. No rebuilding a thread from email.
Program operations
Owns the cadence
Drives invites, document chasing (passport expired? W-8BEN missing?), exception triage, and re-onboarding planning from one screen.
Finance & AP
Reads readiness before release
Checks payout state, hold reasons, and the audit trail before approving a release. No separate compliance tool.
Support
Closes overrides cleanly
Captures override requests with reviewer decision and reasoning pinned to the engagement. Nothing lost to Slack.
Where contractor onboarding pays back the work
Teams reach for AoR onboarding when bad activations show up as audit findings, payout reversals, or reclassification cleanup.
Marketplace activation
A marketplace worker in Brazil never reaches payout setup until classification, W-8BEN, passport, screening, and bank details all clear.
Cross-border contractor programs
Run the same onboarding flow for the US, UK, Germany, and India. Country-specific document and tax overlays apply automatically.
Vendor management standardization
Replace ad-hoc Google Sheets with a uniform readiness record. Finance and ops both act on the same screen.
Re-onboarding after rule changes
India updates its labor code. You re-onboard affected Indian contractors without losing the original assessment context.
After onboarding
Translate readiness into signed paper before activation
All five gates are green. Now Gruv issues a localized agreement that references the exact classification result and sends it for signature via DocuSign.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does the contractor's identity lock to the engagement?+
On first authenticated sign-in. Identity binds before any onboarding state records, so a wrong account cannot pollute the engagement.
How are documents like W-8BEN tracked?+
Each document moves through missing, pending, approved, rejected, and expired states. Reviewer notes and timestamps attach at each transition. The next person picking up the engagement sees the full history.
Can a contractor onboard before classification passes?+
No. Classification is the first gate. Onboarding inherits the classification result and reads coverage status from the engagement before any other state commits.
What happens if bank verification fails?+
The engagement stays inactive. Payout readiness returns blocked with a reason code: account-name mismatch, ineligible routing, or policy limit breach. The contractor corrects the input and resubmits.
How do we handle exceptions during onboarding?+
Exceptions follow the same maker-checker path used for classification. A second reviewer approves or rejects. The decision and reasoning record on the engagement. Nothing gets lost to email.
Ready to scope contractor onboarding?
Bring your contractor list, launch countries, document requirements (W-8BEN, passport, right-to-work), and reviewer owners. Gruv scopes the readiness gates your team needs before the first contractor activates.
Many teams start with a narrow launch in weeks.