Restaurant Employee Onboarding Checklist

Federal FLSA requires written tip-credit notice before any tip credit is applied to a tipped employee's wages. Bundle it with the offer letter and capture a signed acknowledgement — without it, the employer owes the full minimum wage retroactively, and class actions have hit operators for $1M+ on this exact failure. Skip the tip-credit notice for BOH hires and for states that ban the tip credit (CA, OR, WA, NV).

I-9 Section 1 must be completed by the new hire on or before their first day; Section 2 within three business days of the start date. If the operator is in an E-Verify state (AZ, AL, MS, NC, SC, TN, UT, GA above the threshold) or holds federal contracts, run E-Verify the same day Section 2 is completed.

This drives the rest of the onboarding — FOH hires need alcohol-service certification (TIPS or state RBS) and the tip-credit notice; BOH hires skip those and pick up extra knife and hot-line safety training. Get this answer recorded before training is scheduled, not after.

Block a non-revenue shift for orientation — typically a Tuesday or Wednesday mid-afternoon, never a Friday or Saturday. Pair the first paid shift with a senior server or line cook on the same station so the buddy assignment lines up with the schedule.

Show the full path: host stand, server stations, expo pass, line, dish pit, walk-in, dry storage, back office. Point out the three-bay sink, the sanitizer bucket station, the FIFO labeling on the walk-in shelves, and the location of the eyewash station and fire suppression pull.

Cover the no-call/no-show policy, attendance points, tip-pool structure, scheduling cutoffs, and the chain of command for guest complaints. Capture a signed acknowledgement and file it with the I-9.

Walk the new hire through every station and name the lead at each. Assign a buddy for the first two weeks — typically a senior server for FOH or a chef de partie for BOH — and put the buddy's number in the new hire's phone before they leave.

Two sets of uniform minimum so one is always laundered. Non-slip shoes are the new hire's responsibility; confirm they own a pair before the first shift on the line. Locker code or key goes in the onboarding folder.

Most states require ServSafe, Learn2Serve, or a state-equivalent for food-touching staff, with manager-level certification for at least one person per shift. Pull the cert card, check the expiration (typically 3-5 years), and scan it into the personnel file. If the new hire doesn't hold one, enroll them in the next available course before their first solo shift.

Required for any FOH role that pours, serves, or rings alcohol. Course varies by state — TIPS, ServSafe Alcohol, or the state ABC's own program. Block the new hire from solo bar or section coverage until the cert is on file; selling to a minor or visibly intoxicated guest is a license-level violation, not a coaching moment.

Walk through the dedicated cutting board, dedicated tongs, glove change, and dedicated fryer protocol for allergen tickets. In MA, IL, MI, NY, RI and similar jurisdictions an allergen-aware (PCFP or AllerTrain) certified manager must be on every shift — confirm the new hire knows who that is and how to flag a ticket to them.

Knife handling, the salamander, fryer oil at 350°F, sanitizer concentration (200-400 ppm quat or 50-100 ppm chlorine), chemical storage separation, and the slip-mat path from the line to the dish pit. Show the OSHA 300A summary posted on the back-of-house board and the location of the SDS binder.

Cover ringing in modifiers and subs, applying allergen flags, sending fire/hold timing, splitting checks, comping with manager approval, and closing tabs before lockout. Open-tab abandonments at close are a top revenue leak — the new hire should know exactly how the lockout works before their first solo close.

Two full shifts shadowing, then two shifts shadowed in reverse — the senior follows the new hire and corrects in real time. Use the lulls to quiz on 86 callouts, allergen routing, and table-numbering.

Plate every menu item the new hire will sell or fire. For FOH, walk through the source-of-protein, allergen profile, and standard mods for each. For BOH, plate to spec and photograph against the build sheet. Cover how 86s are called from the line and updated in the POS so the front never sells what the line can't fire.

Tipped-employee side-work has a wage-and-hour trap: the FLSA 80/20 rule disallows the tip credit for non-tipped duties exceeding 20% of the shift or 30 continuous minutes. Train the new hire on the side-work checklist and the time-tracking expectation so the operator stays on the right side of the rule.

Fifteen minutes, off the floor. Ask three questions: what's working, what's confusing, and is the buddy assignment landing. Most early-attrition signals show up at day 7, not at day 30 — surface them now while the buddy and trainer can still adjust.

Pull the new hire's first two weeks of timecards from 7shifts and tip-out from Toast. Confirm clock-ins match scheduled shifts, side-work time is recorded, and tip-pool distributions reconcile. Discrepancies caught now are a coaching conversation; caught in month three they're a wage complaint.

Score against the role's 30-day expectations: menu knowledge, POS fluency, station ownership, attendance, and team feedback from the buddy and shift leads. Document the outcome — pass, pass with notes, or needs improvement — so the next conversation has a written baseline.

Triggered when the 30-day review lands at 'Needs improvement.' Write the plan against the two or three specific gaps named in the review — POS speed, menu knowledge, attendance — with a 14-day reassessment date and a named coach. Vague coaching plans are why repeat performance issues survive to month six.