Reference check questions for warehouse associates

Warehouse work is measured closely. A supervisor can often tell you a picker’s rate, their error count and whether they made the start-of-shift meeting on time, so a reference can give you more than an opinion. What an interview cannot show you is how the candidate works in the last hour of a peak-season shift, when the trailer has to leave and the shortcuts start to look tempting.

A background check shows records. A supervisor saw whether the candidate wore their protective equipment when nobody was checking, reported the damaged rack instead of working around it and stayed accurate at speed. Ask for specific shifts, and for numbers where the reference has them, and ask how the candidate compared with others doing the same work.

Who to ask

• A shift supervisor or area manager who tracked the candidate’s rates, accuracy and attendance.
• A lead or trainer who taught the candidate a process or a piece of equipment and saw how quickly they picked it up.
• Whoever evaluated them on powered equipment, if they will drive a forklift, reach truck or order picker for you.
• For agency assignments, the supervisor at the warehouse where they worked. The agency may only know dates and attendance.

Questions to ask, by competency

Choose the competencies that matter most for the position and two or three questions from each. Ask every reference the same set, and when an answer is a rating, ask for the example behind it.

Safety habits

The risky moment in a warehouse is the shortcut taken when a shift is behind. Ask what the candidate did on those shifts, not on an easy one.

1. When the shift was behind, did the candidate still use team lifts, keep to the pedestrian walkways and wear their protective equipment? What did you see?
2. Did the candidate report near misses, spills and damaged racking, or work around them?
3. If the candidate drove a forklift, pallet jack or order picker for you, how did they operate it? Were they ever retrained or taken off the equipment?

Accuracy at speed

A fast picker who ships the wrong item creates a return, a reship and an unhappy customer. You need to know both their pace and their accuracy.

1. On a scale of one to five, how would you rate the candidate’s accuracy at full speed compared with others on the same shift, and why? (rating)
2. Tell me about a mis-pick, short shipment or mislabeled pallet the candidate caught or caused. What happened next?
3. How quickly did the candidate learn the handheld scanner and the warehouse system, and how did they handle exceptions such as an empty pick location?

Attendance and shift reliability

Labor is planned shift by shift. One missing associate on the dock can hold a trailer and push the work onto everyone else.

1. When the candidate was scheduled, were they at their station and ready when the shift started?
2. When they could not make a shift, did they follow your call-in rules early enough for you to cover the line?
3. How did the candidate respond to mandatory overtime, weekend shifts or peak-season hours?

Teamwork and flexibility

Volume moves between receiving, picking, packing and shipping during a shift, and leads move people to follow it.

1. When you moved the candidate to another area mid-shift, such as from picking to loading, how did they take it?
2. How did the candidate hand over unfinished work at shift change, such as a half-loaded trailer or an open wave?
3. Did the candidate ever help train a new associate on the scanner or a process? How did the new person do once they were on their own?

Close the reference

End every reference the same way: ask whether they would hire or work with the candidate again and why, what support would help the candidate do their best work, and whether there is anything else you should know. The general question bank explains why the first of these matters most.

Checks a reference does not replace

• Forklift and powered equipment qualification. OSHA’s forklift training guidance says employers must certify that each operator has received the training and must evaluate each operator at least once every three years. Treat a card from a past employer as a starting point, and evaluate the candidate on your own equipment before they drive it.
• Agency records, for temp or temp-to-hire work: confirm dates and assignments with the staffing agency, which may have been the employer of record.

Warning signs to follow up

• A supervisor who praises the candidate’s speed but goes quiet when you ask about safety or accuracy.
• A mention that the candidate was taken off a forklift or order picker, with no explanation from the reference or the candidate.
• References only from the staffing agency, and nobody who saw the candidate on the warehouse floor.
• Agency assignments listed on the application as direct jobs, or dates that only line up once you add the agency.

One warning sign is a reason to ask another question, not a verdict. Reference check red flags covers how to check a concern fairly.

Questions to leave out

Ask only about the work. Before an offer, the EEOC’s guidance says an employer may not ask a third party, such as a former employer, any question it could not ask the candidate directly. Leave out health, medical leave, age, family plans and other protected characteristics. What to leave out has the full list.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Confirm the requirements that apply to your organization, and in your state, with your counsel or HR policy office.