Kitchen hand job description template
The job that keeps a kitchen moving: the pass cleared, the pots turned around, the vegetables prepped and the floor left clean. Often somebody’s first job, which makes writing it down worth the ten minutes.
| Section | What it says |
|---|---|
| Position | Kitchen hand |
| Reports to | Chef on shift |
| Employment type | Casual, with shifts offered on the weekly roster |
| Where the work happens | The wash area, the prep bench and the dry store |
| Hours and roster | Evenings from 5:00pm, Thursday to Sunday, with extra shifts when the room is booked out. |
| What the job involves | Run the dishwasher and keep clean crockery moving back to the pass. Wash pots and pans by hand and return them to the section that needs them. Do the basic prep the chef asks for, such as peeling, portioning and labelling. Put deliveries away in the dry store and the cool room, oldest at the front. Take the bins and the cardboard out. Sweep and mop the kitchen floor at close, and clean the wash area down. |
| A typical shift | On at 17:00: racks stacked, machine on and up to temperature, prep bench cleared for service. Dishes constant from 18:00 as the first tables turn. Between waves, peel and portion for tomorrow and break down cartons. Last plates through by 21:45, then pots, floor and bins, wash area cleaned down and out by 22:30. |
| Skills and experience | No experience needed. Works at a steady pace without being chased, keeps a clean bench, and says something when a plate or a pot comes back broken. |
| Tickets and certificates | None for the role. Closed shoes and any kitchen induction the business runs. |
| Physical demands | Wet hands, heat and steam, standing for the shift, and lifting stock into the cool room. |
| Pay and award | Paid at the rate in your letter of engagement. Kitchen work is usually covered by the Hospitality Industry (General) Award or the Restaurant Industry Award, and the award’s coverage clause decides which. The classification decides the rate, and a junior rate may apply by age. |
| How the job is reviewed | A chat after the first month about pace, the close down and what to learn next. |
| Review date of this description | Reviewed each March, or when the menu adds a section. |
What is in the file
- Template, blank, with each section down the side and room for the answer.
- Example, the same sheet filled in for Wharf Road Kitchen.
- How to use, with the steps and the mistakes below.
How to fill it in
- Write in the prep the chef actually delegates, because that is what makes the role more than dishes.
- Say whether a junior rate applies, and check the age brackets in the award rather than assuming.
- Name the close down jobs, since those are the ones that get missed.
- Go through it on the first shift, not by email.
Common mistakes
- A description that says “assist the chef” and nothing else, which teaches nobody the job
- Leaving the bins, the cardboard and the mop out, then being surprised they are skipped
- Setting a rate from another venue instead of reading the classification and the junior brackets
When a spreadsheet stops being enough
Roster Flow shows what a kitchen hand shift costs as it is placed, so an extra pair of hands on a booked out Saturday is a decision made before the week is published.
Questions
What is on the kitchen hand job description template?
13 sections down the side, running from position to review date of this description. The example beside them is filled in for Wharf Road Kitchen: dishes, prep, deliveries and the close down, for the job a kitchen cannot run without.
Does the kitchen hand job description template work anything out for you?
No. It is a document with 13 sections to answer in your own words, not a calculator. Nothing on it is a formula.
Can I use the kitchen hand job description template in Google Sheets?
Yes. Open kitchen-hand-job-description.xlsx from Google Drive, or use File, then Import, then Upload with kitchen-hand-job-description.csv. The document and its example come across either way.
Is the wording in the kitchen hand job description template ready to use as it is?
The kitchen hand job description template is a starting point for Wharf Road Kitchen or any business like it, to adapt rather than sign. The wording was checked against the official sources on 22 September 2026, it is not legal advice, and it has not been through a workplace relations professional.