New employee orientation checklist for day one: paperwork, tour, safety and the first shift
Day one decides whether a new hire's first impression is "this place is organized" or "nobody knew I was coming." It's also the day a few legal clocks start: the I-9, payroll withholding, the new-hire report to your state, and the safety and food-safety training the rules expect before someone starts working.
This checklist covers the whole first day, in order, with who signs off each line. The first 30 minutes of it, minute by minute, are in our 30-minute onboarding plan. What each role learns at its station is in the hiring-by-role series: barista, line cook, dishwasher or porter, servers and cashiers, prep cook and shift lead. This post doesn't repeat them.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. State rules vary; check yours, and ask your payroll provider about the forms they need.
Before day one
- The offer accepted in writing, with the start date, the position, the pay and the first shift.
- The first shift on the schedule with a named buddy on the same hours.
- Paperwork sent ahead so day one isn't spent at a table filling in forms (Section 1 of the I-9 still has to be done by the end of the first day; see the onboarding plan for the USCIS deadlines).
- The app invite sent, an apron and name tag ready, a locker or shelf labeled.
- If they're under 18, check the hours and tasks they can work before you schedule them. Florida's rules are in employing minors in a Florida restaurant.
The day-one checklist
Sign-off is who confirms the line is done: M for the manager, B for the buddy, N for the new hire.
1. Paperwork (manager, first 20 minutes)
Check | Why | Sign-off |
|---|---|---|
Form I-9, Section 1 completed; documents for Section 2 seen within 3 business days | Federal employment eligibility (onboarding plan has the USCIS deadlines) | M, N |
Form W-4 completed | The IRS: "Complete Form W-4 so that your employer can withhold the correct federal income tax from your pay" (IRS, About Form W-4) | M, N |
State withholding form, if your state has one | State income tax | M, N |
Direct deposit, emergency contact, tip and meal policies explained | Payroll and safety | M, N |
New-hire report scheduled | "Federal law requires employers to report basic information on new and rehired employees within 20 days of hire to the state where the new employees work. Some states require it sooner" (HHS Office of Child Support Services). Many payroll providers file it for you; confirm that yours does. | M |
Handbook given; questions noted | Our handbook outline lists what goes in it | M, N |
2. Tour and safety (manager or buddy, 20 minutes)
Check | Why | Sign-off |
|---|---|---|
Exits, the meeting point outside, and the fire extinguishers | Where you've provided extinguishers for employees to use, OSHA requires "an educational program to familiarize employees with the general principles of fire extinguisher use", given "upon initial employment and at least annually thereafter" (29 CFR 1910.157(g)) | M |
First-aid kit, and how to report any injury the same day | So injuries get reported and handled the same day; Florida's steps are in workers' compensation for a Florida restaurant | M, N |
Chemicals: what's used where, how to read a label, where the safety data sheets are | OSHA: "Employers shall provide employees with effective information and training on hazardous chemicals in their work area at the time of their initial assignment" (29 CFR 1910.1200(h)(1)) | M, N |
Slicers, mixers, fryers and the dish machine: what they can't touch yet | Until they've been trained on it, and never for a minor where the law prohibits it | B |
Break area, staff restroom, where to keep phone and bag | Staff eat and drink only in a designated area (FDA Food Code §2-401.11) | B |
Workplace posters, where they hang | Florida's list is in required workplace posters | M |
3. Food safety (manager, 15 minutes)
Section numbers are from the 2022 FDA Food Code; the FDA has since published a 2026 edition, and the rules quoted here haven't changed in substance in it.
Check | Why | Sign-off |
|---|---|---|
What illness to report before a shift (vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, sore throat with fever, infected cuts), and to whom | The person in charge ensures food employees are "informed in a verifiable manner of their responsibility to report" (§2-103.11(P)). Have them sign that they were told. | M, N |
Handwashing at the handwashing sink: when and how | §2-103.11(D) makes watching it the person in charge's job | B |
Allergens: the nine, and "never guess" | Employees are trained "in FOOD safety, including FOOD allergy awareness, as it relates to their assigned duties" (§2-103.11(O)) | M |
Temperatures, date labels, no bare hands on ready-to-eat food | The basics of every station | B |
Food handler training booked, if your state requires it | Florida's rules are in food manager certification and food handler training in Florida | M |
4. The first shift (buddy)
Check | Sign-off |
|---|---|
Clocked in on their own phone; knows how to take a break and clock out | B, N |
Shown the schedule, how to swap a shift and how to call out | B, N |
Worked one station with the buddy, then did it alone at least once | B |
Knows who the shift lead is and how to reach them | N |
End of shift: five minutes on what went well and what was confusing | B, N |
Next shift confirmed; the day-3 check-in on the calendar | M |
After day one
Keep the signed checklist with the employee's file. Then the 30-minute onboarding plan takes over: the day-3 check-in, station sign-offs, and the day-14 conversation. New hires who know what's expected tend to stay longer; our post on keeping your first team has more.
Where Mays fits
- The invite. When you add an employee with a phone number under Locations & Users → Users, Mays texts them a link to download the app, and they sign in with that number. Put their Hire date on the Employment tab.
- The checklist, started for each hire. Build the day-one checklist as a template under Tasks → Templates, one task group per section above, and set Frequency to Custom so it never runs on its own. On the first day, Tasks → Create Task → From Template creates every task for today, assigned to the new hire or the buddy (the image at the top of this post). Whoever it's assigned to ticks each line in the app as they go; a Text answer on the last task holds their end-of-day questions.
- Certificates. With Labor law compliance on, the Certificates tab on the team member's page records a food handler card or food protection manager certificate, with a photo or PDF of it and an expiry date. Mays reminds people before a certificate expires.
- A "Start here" folder. Keep the handbook, the call-out policy, the allergen list and the chemical safety data sheets in a Knowledge Base folder shared with the location. Staff read them in the app, and the AI Assistant answers questions from what's shared with them (it uses AI credits).
- A first quiz. With Learning (part of the Pro plan), an admin builds a short module from those articles and assigns it to the new hire, and passing a compliance-critical module issues a PDF certificate.
Not in Mays: the I-9, W-4 and other payroll forms (keep them with your payroll provider and your files), and a signed acknowledgment that someone read the handbook.
Make day one the same for everyone
Build the checklist once, start it for each new hire, and nothing depends on who happened to be working.
Start your free trial: 30 days, every module, no card needed. Or book a walkthrough and we'll build your orientation checklist with you.