Retail Employee Onboarding Checklist

Record the hire's legal name, role (sales associate, key holder, stock associate, cashier), home store, and start date. These drive scheduling-tool setup, payroll, and POS user provisioning downstream.

Order through the vendor (Checkr, Sterling, HireRight) with FCRA-compliant disclosure and authorization on file. For key holders and cash-handling roles, include credit history per state law where permitted. Adverse-action letter required before any decision based on a disqualifying record.

Send the pre-adverse-action notice with a copy of the report and FCRA summary of rights. Wait the state-required dispute window (typically 5 business days) before final decision. Document the individualized assessment for EEOC purposes.

Section 2 must be completed within 3 business days of start date. Inspect original List A or List B+C documents in person; do not accept photos or copies. In E-Verify states (AZ, AL, MS, NC, SC, TN, UT, GA, FL above thresholds), submit the case within 3 business days of hire.

Federal W-4 plus the state equivalent (CA DE-4, NY IT-2104, etc.). Direct deposit authorization with voided check or bank letter. File in the personnel folder; payroll cutoff is typically Wednesday for Friday pay.

Walk through attendance, dress code, meal/rest break policy (CA: 30-min meal by hour 5, 10-min rest per 4 hours), social media policy, and the anti-harassment policy. Collect signed acknowledgment — this is the document that protects the store in a wrongful-termination dispute.

Create the user in Lightspeed, Shopify POS, Square, or Clover with role-appropriate permissions. Cashiers get sales and tender; only key holders and above get void, refund, and no-sale. Each user gets a unique PIN — shared logins kill the audit trail when a discrepancy hits.

Add to Homebase, When I Work, 7shifts, or Kronos with availability, max weekly hours, and minor-status flag if under 18 (restricts hours and tasks per state child-labor law). In predictive-scheduling cities, the first 14-day schedule must be posted by the legal notice window.

Only for key holders, ASMs, and store managers. Log key number on the key control sheet; assign a unique alarm user code (never a shared code — the panel log must identify who armed/disarmed). Safe combination disclosed verbally, not written.

Cover slip-and-trip hazards, proper lifting (50 lb limit for solo lift in most policies), step-stool and ladder use, chemical storage and SDS location, and incident-reporting flow. Stockroom roles get extra: pallet jack, box cutter, and back-of-house traffic.

Walk through sales, returns, exchanges, gift cards, store credit, employee discount, and split tenders. Demonstrate EMV chip insertion, contactless tap, and manual key entry (last resort — flag rate is the fraud signal). New cashiers ring 10 supervised transactions before going solo.

Only if the store sells alcohol, tobacco (21+ federal), lottery, or CBD. Cover the carding rule (card anyone who looks under 30 or 40 per policy), DOB entry at the register, and the consequence: one missed card during a state compliance check is a $1,000+ fine and license risk. Cashier signs the certification.

State-mandated where applicable: TIPS, TABC (TX), LEAD (CA RBS), Washington MAST, etc. File the certificate in the personnel folder and copy to the manager binder for state ABC audit. Most states require completion within 30–60 days of hire.

Observe, document, and call the LP officer or police — do not pursue past the door. Cover sweethearting, refund fraud, and the EAS-tag deactivation step at checkout. Walk the CCTV blind spots and the panic button location.

Most retailers gate medical/dental/vision at 30 hrs/wk average over a lookback period (ACA full-time threshold) and at 60 or 90 days of service. Confirm the hire's eligibility tier and walk them through the carrier portal (BCBS, Aetna, Kaiser) before the enrollment window closes.

Auto-enrollment defaults apply in many plans unless the hire opts out within the window. Walk through the match formula and vesting schedule. Commuter pre-tax (NYC, SF, Seattle, DC require offering) up to the monthly IRS limit.

Pull POS exception report: voids, post-voids, no-sales, manual key entries, refunds without receipt. High counts on a new cashier are either a training gap or an early fraud signal — investigate before the 90-day review.