Setting Up A New Employee

So this morning I received a phone call from a manager about a new employee who starts next week. His laptop arrived this morning and I was getting ready to start setting it up. The question is, "Can I setup his email now before he starts, so that they can send him stuff?" Sure, that is definitely not an issue. I can understand why they might want to do that. The next request is that I send the new password to the manager and cc the new employee.

Well I can, but what is the point? He won't be able to read the email anyway. I pointed this out and the manager chuckled and said, "Yeah, that's right. I guess I'll call him tonight with the password."