Restaurant Staff Training Checklist for New Hires

Most restaurants in Singapore train by shadowing: a new hire follows an experienced colleague and picks things up. Shadowing works, but only if the experienced colleague teaches the same things every time. A written checklist fixes that. It also protects you when SFA inspects, because you can show who was trained, on what and when.

Use the sections below as a template and adapt them to your menu, service style and systems.

Before day one: paperwork and food hygiene requirements

Get the admin done before the new hire’s first shift, so day one is about learning the job.

Employment paperwork

• Contract and job scope. Written terms, role, pay, working hours and rest day. MOM’s hours of work page sets the limits for staff covered by Part 4 of the Employment Act, and our F&B staff roster guide explains how these apply to shift work.
• CPF and payroll details. Bank account, NRIC or FIN details and CPF status.
• Work pass, if applicable. A foreign employee cannot start work until the pass is in order. Our guide to hiring foreign workers for F&B covers the MOM steps.
• Uniform, locker and roster. Tell them what to wear, where to store belongings and their first two weeks of shifts.

Food hygiene course and SFA registration

This is the one legal requirement you cannot skip. SFA’s food handler requirements say a food handler is anyone who handles or prepares food and drinks in an SFA-licensed establishment, including chefs, cooks, kitchen assistants and bartenders. Every food handler needs a valid WSQ Food Safety Course Level 1 certificate. The first refresher is due within five years of passing, then within ten years of each refresher, and SFA says a handler who misses the deadline cannot work until they retrain.

The licensee must register food handlers with SFA. SFA’s December 2024 advisory says this applies to part-time staff and to manpower from outsourced contractors too. SFA says service staff such as captains and waiters, managers and cashiers are not food handlers, but also that untrained staff must not help with food preparation. If a server might plate desserts or make drinks during a rush, put them through the course.

Some premises must also appoint a Food Hygiene Officer, who needs WSQ Food Safety Course Level 3. If you have one, make them part of every kitchen hire’s training. Our SFA inspection guide explains the SAFE grading framework and the demerit points for lapses such as unregistered food handlers.

Wider training and SkillsFuture

Beyond the mandatory course, there are other WSQ courses in areas such as service and kitchen skills. The SkillsFuture website is the starting point for training and funding support for both individuals and employers. Check the course provider and the funding terms for each course before you enrol staff.

Day 1 orientation checklist

Keep day one light on service and heavy on context. A new hire who understands the layout and the rules will pick up the skills faster.

• Welcome, introductions to the team and who to ask for help on each shift.
• Tour of the premises: dining room, kitchen, stores, chillers, fire exits, first-aid kit and staff areas.
• House rules: clocking in, breaks, staff meals, phone use, grooming and personal hygiene.
• Hygiene basics: handwashing points, covering wounds, reporting illness and staying home when unwell. SFA’s advisory asks operators to send unwell staff home.
• The concept: your cuisine, price level, typical guests and what makes the restaurant different.
• POS log-in: give each person their own staff log-in on the first day, so every order and void is traceable.
• Shadow one full service without taking responsibility for tables or stations.

Front-of-house training: service steps, menu knowledge and allergens

Service steps

Write down your sequence of service, then train it step by step. A typical sequence for table service is: greet and seat, water and menus, take drinks, take food orders, fire courses, check back, clear, offer dessert and coffee, present the bill, take payment and thank the guest. Counter-service outlets will have a shorter version. Role-play each step before the new hire does it on the floor.

Menu knowledge

• Every dish: main ingredients, cooking method, portion, spice level and what it pairs with.
• Modifiers you offer, such as no onion, less spicy or sauce on the side, and what the kitchen cannot change.
• Items that sell out and how staff find out.
• A short tasting session, so servers can describe dishes from experience.

Test menu knowledge with a quick quiz at the end of week one. It is easier to spot gaps on paper than in front of a guest.

Allergens

Allergen questions need a consistent answer. SFA’s food allergy page lists allergens that must be declared on prepacked food, including cereals containing gluten, eggs, milk, peanuts, soybeans and tree nuts. For food that is not prepacked, SFA says businesses should provide information on request, for example on the menu or on standees. Train staff to:

• check the allergen sheet, not guess;
• ask the kitchen when unsure, and tell the guest honestly if a dish cannot be made safe;
• enter the allergy as a note or modifier on the order so the kitchen sees it on the ticket.

Kitchen training: station setup, food safety and tickets

Station setup

Give each station a written mise en place list with par levels, and a photo of how the station should look before service. New cooks should set up, get it checked, then work service at that station before moving to the next.

Food safety in practice

The WSQ course teaches principles; your kitchen needs to show how they apply on your line. SFA’s advisory to food businesses is a useful training script:

• Thaw frozen food in the chiller at 0 to 4°C, not at room temperature.
• Cook food thoroughly to 75°C for at least 2 minutes.
• Keep food out of the 5 to 60°C danger zone for no more than 4 hours.
• Store ready-to-eat food above raw food, and use colour-coded boards and utensils.

Show new cooks where the temperature logs, cleaning schedules and labels are kept, and who signs them off.

Reading tickets and the kitchen display

Teach cooks how orders reach their station, how to read modifiers and allergy notes, and when to bump or call an order. If your team works in more than one language, ChaChaCha’s restaurant POS prints kitchen tickets in English or Chinese. A kitchen display system can route orders to each station, prioritise them and show prep timers, which gives trainees a clear view of what to cook next.

POS and payments training

Most service errors that cost money happen at the POS. Train with realistic scenarios before opening or in quiet hours, not on live guest bills. Cover:

• Orders. Opening a table, adding items, sending to the kitchen, adding a round and transferring a table.
• Modifiers. Adding options such as less sugar, no ice or add egg, and free-text notes for allergies. Wrong modifiers mean wrong dishes and wrong stock counts.
• Split bills and tabs. Splitting by item, by person and by amount, and running a bar tab.
• Voids and discounts. Explain the difference between voiding an unsent item and cancelling a fired dish. Use staff permissions so that voids, refunds and discounts need a supervisor, and every one is recorded against a name.
• Payments. Taking PayNow, PayLah!, NETS and Visa or Mastercard, splitting one bill across several methods, and what to do if a payment fails.
• Offline mode. ChaChaCha’s POS keeps taking orders if the internet drops and syncs later. Show staff what that looks like, so they do not panic and switch to paper.

Our POS payments page explains the payment methods and reconciliation in more detail.

Cash handling and closing

Cash is where trust matters most, so train it slowly and supervise the first few closes.

• Opening float. Count and sign for the float at the start of the shift.
• Taking cash. Count change back to the guest, keep large notes separate until the transaction is complete, and never leave the drawer open.
• No personal money at the counter. Keep staff cash and phones away from the till.
• Closing count. Count cash, compare it with the POS end-of-day report, and record any difference with a reason.
• Card and e-payment totals. Check terminal and e-payment totals against the POS. Automated reconciliation makes this quicker, but staff should still know what a mismatch looks like.
• Closing duties. Clean-down lists for each station, chiller checks, rubbish out, and lock-up steps.

Review the POS reports for voids and discounts weekly. Patterns matter more than single entries.

Four-week training schedule

Adapt this plan to your hours and roles. The point is that each week has a clear goal and a sign-off.

Week	Front of house	Kitchen	Sign-off
Week 1	Orientation, shadowing, menu study, POS basics before service	Orientation, food safety in your kitchen, prep tasks, shadow one station	Menu quiz; hygiene checklist
Week 2	Serve a small section with a buddy; modifiers, split bills; allergen process	Set up and run one station with supervision; read tickets or KDS	Service steps observed; station setup checked
Week 3	Own section on quieter shifts; payments and failed-payment handling; supervised close	Run station alone on quieter shifts; learn a second station	Cash close without errors; station timings acceptable
Week 4	Full section on busy shifts; handle complaints; independent close	Busy service on main station; cover a second station	Manager review; agree next skills

Measuring competence with checklists

Do not rely on “they seem fine”. Use short checklists for each skill, with a trainer’s initials and date against each line.

• Observed tasks. The trainer watches the task done correctly at least twice before signing it off.
• Quizzes. Menu, allergens and food safety basics, ten questions each.
• POS data. Look at each trainee’s voids, discounts and cash differences in the reports. High numbers point to a training gap more often than dishonesty.
• Guest feedback. Complaints and compliments linked to a server’s section.
• Records. Keep food handler certificates, refresher dates and training sign-offs in one folder, so a manager can find them during an SFA inspection.

Retaining the staff you have trained

Training is an investment that walks out of the door if people leave. Some general practices that help:

• Predictable rosters. Publish rosters early and keep changes to a minimum.
• A clear path. Show what it takes to move from crew to senior crew to supervisor, and train for it.
• Regular check-ins. A short one-to-one at the end of each training week, then monthly.
• Tools that work. Slow, crashing systems frustrate staff during a rush. A POS that is easy to learn shortens training for every future hire.
• Recognition. Thank people by name for good service and good closes.

If you are reviewing your systems as part of a training overhaul, see our guide to the best restaurant POS systems in Singapore, or contact us for a demo and a quote.