Retail Store Hiring Checklist

Specify role (sales associate, stock associate, key holder), hourly range, weekly hour target, weekend and holiday availability, and any age-restricted-sale duties (alcohol, tobacco, lottery). Vague availability language is the most common reason early hires wash out in the first 30 days.

DM signs off on the bottom-mid-top of the band based on local market and current SPLH. Hiring above mid without DM approval is a common source of pay compression with existing associates.

Filter for stated availability against the schedule gap, prior retail or hospitality experience, and commutable distance. Reject duplicate applications and obvious bot resumes before booking phone screens.

15-minute call. Confirm hourly expectations, weekend and closing-shift availability, transportation, and start date. Re-state the pay band so the candidate can self-select out before they take a PTO day to interview in person.

Mix behavioral ("tell me about a difficult customer"), situational ("a customer wants to return without receipt"), and skills (POS familiarity, basic math for cash handling). Use the same question set across candidates to keep the comparison fair and defensible.

30-45 minutes on the sales floor. Walk the candidate through a register and a fitting-room scenario to read body language with customers around. Document specific answers — vague "good fit" notes don't survive an EEOC question later.

Decline candidates get a same-week email — slow rejections damage your local reputation as an employer. Advance candidates move to a DM interview before reference and background work begins.

Prior managers, not coworkers. Ask: dates of employment, eligible for rehire, attendance and punctuality, cash-handling responsibilities. "Eligible for rehire — no" is the single most important signal.

Send the FCRA-compliant disclosure and authorization before initiating the check through the approved vendor (Checkr, HireRight, or Sterling). Required for any role with key holder responsibilities, cash drawer access, or alcohol/tobacco sales.

Apply the company's adjudication matrix — not every hit is disqualifying, and FCRA pre-adverse-action notice is required before withdrawing on the basis of the report. Theft, fraud, and violent convictions within the lookback window are categorical disqualifiers for cash-handling roles.

Land on a rate that respects internal equity — pulling an outside hire above tenured associates at the same role is a common cause of turnover within 90 days when the existing team finds out at the timecard.

Use the company template. State role, hourly rate, weekly hour target (with the at-will and non-guaranteed-hours language), start date, and that the offer is contingent on background and I-9. State-specific addenda apply for CA, NY, CO, WA pay transparency.

Phone, not text. Re-state the rate, schedule, and start date, and confirm verbal acceptance before sending the written offer. Candidates who accept by text and ghost on Day 1 are typically those who never had a real conversation about expectations.

I-9 Section 2 must be completed within 3 business days of the first day worked — physically inspect the original documents from List A or List B+C. Missing the 3-day window is one of the most common ICE audit findings in retail.

Required in AZ, AL, MS, NC, SC, TN, UT, GA, and FL above the state-specific employee thresholds. Submit within 3 business days of Section 2 completion; tentative non-confirmations get a referral letter, not a termination.

Create the profile in Homebase, When I Work, 7shifts, or Kronos — include availability, hire date, pay rate, and role. Build into the published schedule before predictive-scheduling notice windows close (NYC, Seattle, SF, Oregon, Philadelphia, Chicago).

First three shifts paired with a trainer on POS basics (sale, return, void, post-void, manager override), age-verification prompts for restricted SKUs, and the observe-document-call-police shoplifting protocol. Trainee should not be solo on a register before completing this block.