Barista job description template: café type, tips and shift supervisors in the pool, food handler cards and teen hours
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"Barista wanted, love coffee, customer focused" is the most common café posting, and it tells a candidate almost nothing about the job. A drive-thru café that serves hundreds of drinks before 9 a.m. is a speed job with a headset. A specialty café that dials in espresso every morning and pours latte art is a craft job. A café inside a hospital or campus is often run by a contract food service company with fixed hours and no tips at all. The details candidates care about, such as opening times, how tips are pooled and whether shift leads share in them, and whether a 16-year-old can open, are also the ones with rules attached. A useful barista job description names the café type, the pace, the shifts, the pay and tip structure, and the food safety training. Below are the café types, the tip, food handler and age lines with sources, a copy-ready template, screening and scorecard rows, and common mistakes. For the call, use barista screening questions.
Not legal advice. The tip, food handler and child labor points below were checked against 29 CFR Parts 531 and 570 on Cornell's Legal Information Institute, the Department of Labor, the California Health and Safety Code, the Texas Department of State Health Services and BLS as of October 2026. State and local rules can go further.
Name the café and the pace
| Café type | What the shift looks like | Must-have that separates it |
|---|---|---|
| Drive-thru or high-volume chain | Morning rush, headset orders, timed service, standardized recipes and automatic machines | Speed and accuracy under timers; multitasking with a headset |
| Specialty or third-wave café | Dialing in espresso, manual brew methods, milk texturing and latte art, guests who ask about origin | Can dial in a grinder and steam milk consistently |
| Café with food | Drinks plus breakfast sandwiches, pastries and a small kitchen, register and dining room | Handles drinks and simple food orders at once; food safety habits |
| Hospital, campus or office café | Contract food service, set hours, badge access, often no tips | Reliability on a fixed schedule; follows the operator's standards |
| Roaster café | Bar shifts plus retail bags, wholesale orders or roastery support | Product knowledge to sell beans and equipment |
Fix the details with the café manager: opening and closing times, drinks on a busy morning (an estimate), how many baristas are on the bar at peak, and whether baristas also bake off pastries, prep food or run the register. BLS covers counter workers in its food and beverage serving profile and notes that workers typically learn on the job in a few days to several weeks, that part-time work is common, and that common injuries include slips, cuts and burns (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, last modified August 27, 2026).
Tips, tip pools and shift supervisors
Tip credit or full wage. A tipped employee customarily and regularly receives more than $30 a month in tips. Federally, an employer may pay a cash wage of at least $2.13 an hour and take a tip credit of up to $5.12, if wages plus tips reach $7.25 and it gives the required notice first (DOL Fact Sheet #15; 29 CFR 531.59). Many cafés pay the full minimum wage instead. The Department of Labor's state tipped wage table (revised July 1, 2026) lists Alaska, California, Guam, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington as requiring the full state minimum wage before tips.
Who shares the pool. With a tip credit, a mandatory pool may include only employees who customarily and regularly receive tips. With the full minimum wage paid, it may also include non-tipped staff such as dishwashers and cooks. In both cases, the employer, managers and supervisors may not receive tips from the pool, and pooled tips must be paid no later than the regular payday for the workweek (29 CFR 531.54).
Shift supervisors. This is the café-specific question. "Manager or supervisor" for tip purposes means an employee whose duties match the executive test in 29 CFR 541.100(a)(2) through (4), meaning management as the primary duty, customarily directing two or more employees, and authority to hire or fire or recommendations given particular weight, or a qualifying business owner (29 CFR 531.52(b)(2)). A store manager usually meets the test and is excluded from the pool; a shift lead who mainly makes drinks and cannot hire or fire may be eligible. Decide this with counsel before you write "tips shared by all team members" in the posting.
Card fees. An employer may reduce card tips only by the card processor's transaction fee, and some states prohibit even that (DOL Fact Sheet #15).
Food handler cards and teen hours
Food handler cards, two examples. In California, food handlers must obtain a card within 30 days of hire; the employer may not condition employment on an existing card and must pay for the training time and costs (Health and Safety Code § 113948). In Texas, food employees must complete accredited food handler training within 30 days of employment (Texas DSHS). Write the card line to your state's deadline and say who pays.
Teens. Cafés hire many 15- to 17-year-olds. Federal rules allow 14- and 15-year-olds to prepare and serve food and beverages, use dishwashers and clean kitchen equipment that is not above 100°F (29 CFR 570.34), but not to bake or to operate, set up or clean power-driven food processors, mixers and similar machines (29 CFR 570.33). Their hours are limited to 3 on a school day and 18 in a school week, only between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. (9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day) (DOL Fact Sheet #43), so a 5:30 a.m. opening shift is not available to them. See hiring minors and work permits for state permits, which are often stricter.
The barista job description template
Barista — [Café name], [Drive-Thru / Specialty Café / Café with
Food / Campus Café], [Opening / Mid / Closing] Shifts
[Café], [street area or neighborhood, city, state]
Pay: $[wage] per hour [plus tips / tip credit taken: notice provided
at hire]. Tips are pooled among [roles], split by [hours worked, as
an example]. [Benefits summary, if required.]
SUMMARY
You will make espresso drinks, brewed coffee and [tea / food items]
for about [N] guests on a busy morning (an estimate), working with
[N] baristas at peak. Shifts start as early as [time] and end as
late as [time], [days]. You will report to the [café manager].
WHAT YOU WILL DO
- Prepare drinks to our recipes and standards.
- [Dial in espresso each morning and steam milk for latte art.]
- Take orders and payments accurately at the [register / window].
- [Heat and serve food items following our food safety rules.]
- Keep the bar, dining area and restrooms clean and stocked.
- Open or close the café following our checklists.
YOU MUST HAVE
- Availability for [N] shifts a week, including [weekend mornings].
- [Food handler card within [deadline]; we pay for the training.]
- [Age line, if your opening shifts or equipment require it.]
- Ability to stand for the shift and lift up to [N] pounds, with or
without reasonable accommodation.
NICE TO HAVE
- Café or customer service experience.
- [Latte art / manual brewing / language] skills.
New to coffee? We train. Please apply.
[EEO STATEMENT]
To request an adjustment to apply or interview, ask any manager or
contact [contact].Pay and EEO
Post the hourly wage and describe tips and the pool; check pay transparency laws by state. BLS publishes pay data for these occupations in the profile linked above; this page does not quote figures. Close with a short EEO statement covering the characteristics the EEOC lists, and describe the dress code rather than appearance.
From must-haves to screening questions and scorecard rows
| Must-have | Screening question | Scorecard competency | Evidence of a strong answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening availability | "Opening shifts start at 5:30 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Can you work those every week?" | Not scored | Knockout confirmed |
| Rush handling | "Eight drinks are on the screen and the drive-thru timer is red. How do you work the queue?" | Speed and sequencing | Starts shots and milk in parallel, batches similar drinks, calls for help, keeps quality |
| Espresso quality (specialty) | "Your shots are running fast and tasting sour. What do you change?" | Technical skill | Grinds finer, checks dose and yield, pulls a test shot and tastes it |
| Allergens and milk | "A guest orders an oat latte and says they have a dairy allergy. What do you do?" | Guest safety | Uses a clean pitcher and purged wand, checks syrups and toppings, tells the guest honestly about cross-contact risk |
| Service recovery | "A regular says their drink is wrong for the second day in a row. How do you respond?" | Guest service | Apologizes, remakes it right away, confirms the order, notes the preference |
A short paid bar trial shows milk texturing and pace. The interview guide for hospitality roles covers stage shifts; if the role is mainly the register, compare it with the cashier job description template.
Common mistakes in barista job descriptions
"Tips" with no structure
Say whether you take a tip credit, who shares the pool and how it is split.
Shift leads in the pool by default
Check each supervisory role against the duties test before including it.
Teen postings with 5 a.m. opens
14- and 15-year-olds cannot work before 7 a.m. under federal rules. Match the shifts to the age.
"Must have food handler card" in California
The statute bars conditioning employment on an existing card. Give the deadline and say you pay.
Before you publish
- Café type, pace estimate and shift times are named.
- Wage, tip credit notice and pool members match your state and 29 CFR 531.
- The food handler line matches your state.
- Teen hiring respects federal hour and equipment limits.
- The EEO statement and accommodation contact close the posting.
Questions people ask
Can shift supervisors share in the barista tip pool?
It depends on their duties, not their title. Under 29 CFR 531.52(b)(2), a manager or supervisor for tip purposes is an employee whose duties match the executive test: management as the primary duty, customarily directing two or more employees, and hiring or firing authority or recommendations given particular weight, or a qualifying owner. Those employees may not receive tips from a pool. A shift lead who mainly makes drinks and lacks that authority may be eligible.
Can a café take a tip credit for baristas?
Under federal law, a barista who customarily and regularly receives more than $30 a month in tips can be paid a cash wage of at least $2.13 an hour with a tip credit, after the required notice, if wages plus tips reach at least $7.25. Many cafés pay the full minimum wage instead, which lets them include non-tipped staff in the pool. Several states do not allow a tip credit at all.
Can a 14- or 15-year-old work as a barista?
Federal rules allow 14- and 15-year-olds to prepare and serve food and beverages, but not to bake, to operate power-driven food processors, mixers and similar machines, or to clean equipment hotter than 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Hours are limited to 3 on a school day and 18 in a school week, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., or 9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day. Early opening shifts before 7 a.m. are off limits.
Does a barista need a food handler card?
It depends on the state. California requires food handlers to get a card within 30 days of hire and bars employers from requiring an existing card as a condition of employment; the employer pays for the training time and cost. Texas requires food employees to complete accredited training within 30 days of employment.