Why am I still getting onboarding reminder emails — and how to stop them

Applies to: anyone receiving repeated "Onboarding Reminder" emails from Ascen — W-2 employees, independent contractors, and workers placed through a gig or scheduling app. If the reminders you are getting are about timesheets rather than onboarding, see I already submitted my timesheet — why did I still get the weekly reminder email? instead.

Summary: Onboarding reminders are triggered by an onboarding step that is still outstanding on an active assignment. They are not marketing email and there is no unsubscribe link, because they are part of getting you cleared to work and paid. They stop when the step is finished — or when the assignment is ended.

Why they keep arriving

The reminder fires because something on your checklist is still open. It will keep firing until that item is complete, even if you believe you finished everything. The steps most often left open at the end are:

• the signature step on an agreement,

• a benefits or 401(k) selection — you still have to record a choice, including a decision not to enrol,

• a required training course, which must be passed and not just opened,

• the Form I-9 or identity verification, which often waits on someone else to complete their part.

Does an open step stop me from working?

Not always — and the reminder is worded more absolutely than it means. The email and text reminders use standard onboarding language such as "complete onboarding before your first day" and "you may not begin work until onboarding is complete". That wording does not change once you have started, so a reminder that arrives in your second or third week is not an instruction to stop working.

• Form I-9 is the step that really does hold time entry if you are a US W-2 employee. Hours dated before your I-9 is complete are not accepted, so this one is worth finishing first — see Do I have to complete the Form I-9 if I'm a U.S. citizen?.

• Identity verification, signed agreements and tax forms can also hold up entry or payment. What to do if you can't enter or submit your timesheet lists what to check.

• An outstanding training course, or a benefits or 401(k) choice you have not recorded yet, keeps the reminder firing but does not by itself stop you entering your hours. Finish it anyway — it is a requirement of your assignment, and some trainings are required by your work location — but if you are told that an open training is the reason your hours cannot go in, email us and we will check.

• If the outstanding step is a training you have already completed recently for another employer, you may not need to retake it — see Required training courses: are they paid, and why does a course keep restarting?.

If you have already started work and are not sure whether an open step is genuinely blocking you, email support@ascen.com and we will check your status directly rather than leaving you to guess from the reminder.

How to stop them: finish the step

1. Log in at app.ascen.com. Your checklist opens on the first incomplete item.

2. Complete anything still marked outstanding. See Getting started: your onboarding checklist — or, if you are an independent contractor, Getting started as an independent contractor — onboarding checklist.

3. If the checklist looks complete to you but reminders continue, email support@ascen.com and tell us what you see. Sometimes a step is complete on your side and waiting on review or on a third party.

If you cannot get in to check, the address on the account may be the problem rather than the password: I can’t sign in because the email on my account is wrong or was changed.

If you don’t want to continue with the assignment

Replying "unsubscribe" will not stop these, because they are tied to the assignment rather than to a mailing list. The reminders stop when the assignment is ended. Tell your staffing Partner — the agency or app that placed you — that you do not wish to continue, since placements and assignments belong to them. You can also reply to the reminder or email support@ascen.com, confirm that you do not want to continue, and we can end the assignment on our side.

If you work through more than one agency

Reminders are sent per assignment. If you are placed by more than one staffing Partner, finishing onboarding for one of them will not stop reminders about another — each assignment has its own checklist.