New Hire Paperwork Checklist

Capture legal name, mailing address, phone, personal email, date of birth, and emergency contact with relationship. The emergency contact is the one field hires routinely skip — it's the field you need most when there's a kitchen injury on shift.

Employee fills Section 1 no later than the first day of work for pay. Use the current USCIS version — older revisions are an automatic ICE audit finding. Do not pre-fill Section 1 for the employee.

Employer must examine original documents (List A, or List B + List C) and complete Section 2 within three business days of the first day of work. Never specify which documents the employee must present — that's document abuse. Photocopy only if your written policy applies the practice to all hires.

AZ, AL, MS, NC, SC, TN, UT, and GA require E-Verify for private employers above a headcount threshold. Submit within 3 business days of hire. If a Tentative Non-Confirmation comes back, the employee continues to work while contesting — do not terminate on TNC alone.

Use the current-year W-4. Collect the state withholding equivalent too (CA DE 4, NY IT-2104, IL W-4, etc.) — the federal W-4 alone is not enough in most states.

Federal FLSA requires written notice before any tip credit is applied — cash wage, credit amount, tip-pool participants, and the rule that all tips are retained by the employee (except for valid tip pool). Skipping this is the single most common wage-and-hour class action against restaurants. Skip this step in CA, OR, WA, NV, MN, MT, AK — those states do not allow a tip credit.

Most states require a food handler card (ServSafe Food Handler, Learn2Serve, or state-equivalent) within 30 days of hire. CA, IL, AZ, OR, WA, TX, FL all have specific timelines. Confirm the card number, issuing body, and expiration — most are valid 3 years.

For anyone pouring or serving alcohol: TIPS, ServSafe Alcohol, or state-mandated equivalent (TX TABC, CA RBS, WA MAST, UT, OR OLCC). State ABC inspectors check at point of service. Missing card on an active bartender is a license-level violation, not a warning.

Enter routing and account number into Toast Payroll, Gusto, ADP, or Restaurant365 Payroll. A voided check or bank letter is the only acceptable source — don't accept screenshots from mobile banking, which routinely show wrong routing numbers for ACH.

Add the employee to 7shifts, Homebase, HotSchedules, or whichever system you use, with the correct role (server/bartender/line/etc.), wage rate, and tip-pool eligibility. Wrong role tagging breaks tip-pool math at end of week.

Walk through the at-will statement, harassment and EEO policies, no-show/tardy progression, meal-break rules, and tip-pool structure. The signed acknowledgment is the operator's defense in most wage-and-hour and EEOC disputes.

Fit aprons, chef coats, branded shirts, or non-slip shoes per role. Review jewelry and beard-net rules for BOH per FDA Food Code. Note any state rule against deducting uniform cost from wages if it pushes the hire below minimum (FLSA standard).

Add user in Toast, Square, Aloha, or Micros with the correct permission tier — servers should not have void or comp permissions. Issue a unique swipe card or PIN; shared logins destroy the audit trail when a void/comp discrepancy shows up at cash-out.