Interview scorecard and reference check form for restaurant hiring (free template)

Most restaurant hiring decisions are made in the parking lot: "I liked her", "he seemed keen". A scorecard fixes that: the same questions in the same order for every candidate, one scale, and a reason written down at the time. Below are the scorecard, a reference check form, and the federal rules on questions, background checks and records. The questions for each job are in our Hiring and training by role series; for the whole process, start with Hiring your first restaurant team.

This is general information, not legal advice. States and cities add their own rules on interview questions and background checks. Check yours.

The scale: 1 to 4, with anchors

Four points, so there's no middle score to hide in. The role posts score 1 to 3; either works if each role uses one scale every time.

Score each answer right after it, with a few words of what they said.

The interview scorecard

Part A: header

Part B: must-haves (yes or no)

A "no" here ends the interview, whatever the rest would have scored.

Ask about the job, not their health: "Can you lift a 30-pound case onto a shelf?", not "Do you have a bad back?"

Part C: core questions (every role)

Part D: role questions

Before the first interview, pick three questions from the role's post, add them to Part C as questions 6 to 8 (scored the same way), and use the same three for every candidate.

Part E: working interview (finalists only)

A working interview is work. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, to "employ" includes "to suffer or permit to work." (29 CFR 785.6). If they make drinks, cook, prep or wash, schedule it and pay at least the minimum wage.

Part F: decision

A 1 on a safety question can outweigh a strong total, but the reason should always point to the card.

Using it fairly

• Write the questions first, and don't add new ones for one candidate.
• Two interviewers score separately, then compare the gaps, not who they liked.
• Notes are about answers. "Read the order back in sequence" belongs on the card. "Seemed young" or "has kids" doesn't.
• Hiring a minor? Their availability has to fit the hours their age allows. See the Florida minors guide or your state's page, such as Texas.

Questions to leave out

The barista post covers family, religion and health questions. Three more that come up:

• Disability. The EEOC says "employers generally cannot ask disability-related questions or require medical examinations until after an applicant has been given a conditional job offer." Before an offer, they "may ask if the applicant will need an accommodation to perform a specific job duty" (EEOC: inquiries and disability).
• Citizenship. "Most employers should not ask whether or not a job applicant is a United States citizen before making an offer of employment." (EEOC: citizenship). Work authorization is checked on the Form I-9 after the offer.
• Photos. The EEOC says "employers should not ask for a photograph of an applicant." (EEOC: prohibited practices). Take one for your systems after they've accepted the job.

The reference check form

Only call references the candidate agrees to, and ask each one the same questions.

"Dates and title only" isn't a bad reference, just a common policy. The off-limits topics apply here too: don't ask about health, family or age.

Background checks through a company

If you use a screening company, the Fair Credit Reporting Act adds steps. The FTC and EEOC's joint guide says to tell the applicant you may use the report: "This notice must be in writing and in a stand-alone format. The notice can't be in an employment application." And "Get the applicant's or employee's written permission to do the background check."

If the report makes you lean toward no, you must first give them "a notice that includes a copy of the consumer report you relied on to make your decision" and "A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act," so they can explain or correct it. And "Apply the same standards to everyone" (FTC: Background Checks: What Employers Need to Know).

Keep the paper

The same guide gives the EEOC's rule: records "including all application forms, regardless of whether the applicant was hired, and other records related to hiring" "must be preserved for one year after the records were made, or after a personnel action was taken, whichever comes later." Longer if a charge is filed.

Staple the scorecard and reference form to the application, lock them up, and shred them when the time is up.

Where Mays fits

Mays doesn't do the hiring part: there's no applicant list, interview calendar, scorecard or reference check in it, so keep these forms in your own files. It takes over the day you say yes:

• Add them under Locations & Users → Users → Add User, with their Hire date. An employee gets a text with a link to the app. See Add and invite team members.
• Under 18? Enter their Date of birth. Where the minors rules are on, Mays checks their scheduled hours. See Scheduling minors.
• Positions. On their page, set the Scheduling Positions they'll work. See Positions and wages.
• Availability. They send it from the app under Schedule → Availability. See Setting your availability.
• Training. A module assigned to a location, role or department reaches people who join it later, so a new hire sees it as soon as they're added. See Assigning training.

Hire on the card, not the feeling

Write the questions first, score every answer on the same four points, check references the same way, and keep the reason with the application.

Start your free trial: 30 days, every module, no card needed. Or book a walkthrough and we'll set up your team, positions and new-hire training with you.