Restaurant job application form template: what to ask, and what to leave off

January brings a wave of applicants: people who want a fresh start, students between terms, and servers who did the holidays elsewhere. A clear application form makes those first conversations faster and fairer. A badly built one can get you in trouble before you've met anyone, usually by asking something you had no reason to ask.

This post gives you a one-page application to copy, explains each part, and lists what federal agencies say to leave off. It ends with what to do with the form once you've hired someone.

General information, not legal advice. State and city laws add rules on top of the federal ones below, especially on criminal history and pay history, so check yours or ask an employment lawyer before you print.

The principle: ask only what you need to decide

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission puts it in one sentence: "As a general rule, the information obtained and requested through the pre-employment process should be limited to those essential for determining if a person is qualified for the job; whereas, information regarding race, sex, national origin, age, and religion are irrelevant in such determinations" (EEOC, prohibited practices).

For a café or restaurant, "qualified for the job" mostly means: can they work the hours you need, have they done similar work (or can they learn it), and can they do the job's tasks. Build the form around those.

The template

Copy this into a document, put your logo at the top and keep it to one page if you can.

[Café / restaurant name] — Job application

We are an equal opportunity employer.

About you

• Full name:
• Phone:
• Email:
• How would you like us to contact you? Phone / Text / Email

The job

• Position(s) you're applying for: ☐ Barista ☐ Cashier ☐ Server ☐ Line cook ☐ Prep cook ☐ Dishwasher ☐ Other: ……………
• Location(s): ……………
• Are you looking for: ☐ Full time ☐ Part time ☐ Seasonal
• Earliest start date:

When you can work

• Roughly how many hours a week would you like?
• Any dates you already know you can't work (trips, exams)?

Age

• Are you 18 or older? ☐ Yes ☐ No
• If not: we'll ask about any work permit your state requires and the hours you're allowed to work.

Experience

For your last two or three jobs (restaurant or not):

Skills and certificates

• Food handler card or food protection manager certificate? ☐ Yes (which, and expiry date): …………… ☐ No
• Anything else useful (espresso, POS systems, languages spoken with guests, catering, opening/closing a store):

The job's main tasks

This job involves [standing for a full shift, lifting cases up to [weight] lb, working near hot equipment, handling cash]. Can you perform these tasks, with or without a reasonable accommodation? ☐ Yes ☐ No

References

Two people who have seen you work (not family): name, relationship, phone.

Before you sign

In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire.

I confirm the information on this form is true and complete.

Signature: ………………………… Date: ……………

What each part is for

• Contact preference. Hourly applicants often have other jobs; text is usually the fastest way to schedule an interview.
• Availability grid. For most hourly roles, this is the single most useful answer on the form. It's the same grid as our employee availability form, so it carries over when you hire.
• 18 or older. Federal and state child labor laws limit the hours and tasks of workers under 18, so you need to know. Ask the yes/no question, not a date of birth: you collect the date of birth after the offer, for payroll. For the rules, see our pages on hiring minors in Florida and your state.
• Job tasks question. The EEOC says an employer "may ask a job applicant whether they can perform the job and how they would perform the job" (EEOC, medical questions). Describe the real tasks, and ask about all of them, for every applicant.
• Certificates. Many states require food handler training or a certified food protection manager; asking up front helps you plan. Our food protection manager post (coming Dec 13) explains the difference.
• The verification statement. That sentence is the EEOC's own suggested wording for an application (EEOC, citizenship). It tells people about Form I-9 without asking about their status.

What to leave off

Availability is fine to ask about. Asking why someone isn't available (church, child care) is not; you need the hours, not the reason.

Criminal history and background checks

• Arrest records. "An employer cannot refuse to hire people simply because they have been arrested. The fact that a person was arrested is not proof that they committed a crime" (EEOC, arrest and conviction records). Leave arrests off the form.
• Convictions: check your state and city first. Many places have "ban the box" laws. California's Fair Chance Act, for example, "generally prohibits employers with five or more employees from asking a job candidate about conviction history before making a job offer" (California Civil Rights Department). Where there's no such law, the EEOC still expects you to treat everyone the same way.
• Background check reports. If you use a background check company, the Fair Credit Reporting Act applies. The FTC says you must tell the applicant in writing that you might use the report, in a stand-alone document that "can't be in an employment application," and get their written permission (FTC, background checks). So don't bury a background check consent in this form.

How to use the form well

1. Ask every applicant for the same position the same questions. Consistency is your best protection and makes candidates easier to compare.
2. Score the interview, not the handwriting. Use our interview scorecard and reference check form so every candidate is rated on the same points.
3. Call the references the form lists, and only with the applicant's OK to contact current employers.
4. Store applications privately. A locked drawer or a restricted folder, not a clipboard by the register.
5. Keep them, including the people you didn't hire. The EEOC says its regulations "require that employers keep all personnel or employment records for one year" (EEOC, recordkeeping requirements). Your state may ask for longer.

After the offer

Once someone accepts, the application has done its job. Now collect what you couldn't ask before:

• [ ] Form I-9, Section 1 by the first day of work. USCIS says employees "may complete Section 1 any time after they accept the job offer" (USCIS)
• [ ] W-4 and your state's withholding form
• [ ] Date of birth (for payroll and minors' rules), emergency contact, address
• [ ] A work permit, if your state requires one for minors
• [ ] Food handler card copy, if required
• [ ] The new employee orientation checklist

Where Mays fits

Mays doesn't post jobs, collect applications or track candidates; keep those on paper or in your hiring tool. It starts the day you hire:

• Add the new hire under Locations & Users → Users → Add User with their name, email and mobile number. Employees get a text with a link to the app, and you can add the Hire date and Date of birth there. See Add and invite team members.
• Availability from the form. The new hire sets their availability in the app, or a manager enters what they wrote on the form with Add availability, and Find cover uses it to show who's free. See Setting your availability and Managing availability.
• Minors. At a location with Labor law compliance's Minors (under 18) on, Mays uses the date of birth to warn you when a shift would break the hours rules for someone under 18. See Scheduling minors.
• Certificates. With Food safety certificates on, keep the food handler card or manager certificate on the person's Certificates tab. See Food safety certificates.

Keep it short and job-related

One page, the same questions for everyone, availability and experience front and centre, and nothing you'd only need after the offer. Then the interview can be about the job.

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