Warehouse Worker Job Description
By TNTSEO United
Last updated: September 2026
A good warehouse worker job description names the pay, shift, duties, physical demands, and application steps in plain language. Start with the work your supervisor actually needs done, then separate essential qualifications from skills you can teach. Give applicants enough detail to judge the assignment before they apply.
In New York State, covered employers with four or more employees must disclose a fixed pay rate or good-faith pay range in ads for work performed in New York (New York Labor Law Section 194-b).
Use the template below as your starting point, replace every blank, and remove duties that do not belong on the shift. At FIS Recruitment, we discuss your hiring needs and screen candidates before presenting them.
Warehouse worker job description template
Use this warehouse job description template to describe a specific opening at a specific site. Fill in the pay, schedule, physical demands, and application route before posting it. Review the duties with the shift supervisor, and keep only the tasks the person will actually perform in this assignment.
The summary explains the job's purpose; the duties explain the work. Qualifications should identify what a person needs to start, while the nice-to-have section leaves room for relevant experience. If you use "warehouse associate" as the title, keep the same level of detail.
Warehouse Worker
Job title: Warehouse Worker
Location: __, __; on-site at __
Pay: $__ to $__ per hour
Shift and hours: __ days; __ a.m./p.m. to __ a.m./p.m.; __ scheduled hours per week. Overtime expectations: __.
Employment type: __
Reports to: __
Summary: Help move and organize goods through our warehouse while keeping items protected and movement records accurate. Work with the __ team to complete assigned receiving, storage, and loading tasks safely.
Duties:
- Keep storage areas organized so goods and equipment stay protected.
- Read work orders and follow supervisor instructions for daily assignments.
- Move goods between storage areas, loading docks, and delivery vehicles using approved methods and equipment.
- Secure goods with appropriate padding, bracing, or strapping to prevent damage during movement.
- Sort goods before loading or unloading.
- Label containers so their contents can be identified.
- Record quantities of goods handled or moved using the site's tracking process.
- Inspect goods for damage or leaks.
Physical requirements: Perform the essential functions with or without reasonable accommodation. Lift up to __ lbs, __ often; stand for __; walk for __; reach __. Work in __ temperature conditions. Available lifting equipment and team assistance: __.
Qualifications: Ability to follow work instructions, record quantities accurately, and follow site safety procedures. Required job-specific experience or skills: __.
Nice to have: Experience with __ inventory system, __ scanning equipment, or similar warehouse tasks.
How to apply: Apply at __ or contact __. Include __. For an accommodation during the application process, contact __.
Duties adapted from
O*NET 53-7062.00, U.S. Department of Labor.
What to put in the pay line
In New York State, covered employers with four or more employees must disclose a fixed pay rate or good-faith pay range in ads for work performed in New York (New York Labor Law Section 194-b). Make the pay line specific to the opening.
The
New York Department of Labor employer fact sheet dates the requirement to September 17, 2023. Use the minimum and maximum you genuinely expect to offer, or list the fixed rate if that is the offer. An open-ended range does not meet the agency's guidance.
The statute requires the job description if one exists. DOL guidance says employers must create one except where the title conveys the duties. For a warehouse opening, spell out the work instead of relying on the title.
DOL distinguishes a temporary-help firm's ads for workers assigned to other organizations, which are exempt, from covered employers' own ads seeking workers through a firm. Ads for the firm's internal jobs also require disclosure. Check which situation applies before treating an agency arrangement as an exception.
For Pennsylvania openings, including pay is a useful drafting practice. Check applicable state and local requirements for the actual work location before posting.
For a market sanity check, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, reports hourly medians for laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand of $20.38 in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ and $20.63 in Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, PA.
These are medians, not starting rates or a recommendation for your offer. BLS defines the median as the midpoint: half of workers earn more and half earn less. Match the occupation to the actual job before using its wage data.
Duties: use the real work, not a wish list
Build the duties list around the work assigned on the shift, using O*NET as a starting point. Name what moves, where it goes, and how the worker records it. Delete tasks that belong to another position, and make specialized equipment duties explicit when they are part of the opening.
Ask the supervisor to walk through a normal shift from arrival to handoff. Is the person unloading inbound goods, replenishing storage, or preparing outbound loads? Replace general phrases with the relevant task. "Record quantities moved in the warehouse system" gives the reader something concrete to assess.
O*NET includes specialized tasks such as attaching lifting devices and guiding cargo. Their presence in the occupation profile is a reason to review them, not to add them automatically. Keep forklift work separate unless this hire will actually operate a truck.
Physical requirements: be specific
Describe the physical demands of the actual assignment, including lifting, standing, walking, reaching, and temperature conditions. State how often a task occurs and what assistance or equipment is available. Have the supervisor check each requirement against the work instead of copying a weight limit from another employer's advertisement.
Before filling the blanks, check the items handled, storage heights, travel between work areas, and time spent at each station. Distinguish a brief task from a recurring duty. If lifting equipment changes how the task is performed, describe the task with that equipment in mind.
Under
the ADA, 42 U.S.C. 12111(8), a written job description prepared before advertising or interviewing applicants is evidence of the job's essential functions. It is not conclusive proof. Review essential functions and reasonable accommodation with your employment adviser; this article is not legal advice.
Variations for related roles
Change the description when the main assignment changes, even if your warehouse uses similar titles across departments. Identify the equipment, records, and goods involved, then adjust the qualifications and physical requirements to match. Use these variations as editing prompts and confirm each duty with the person supervising the role.
| Role | What changes in the description |
|---|---|
| Forklift operator | Name the truck and load-handling work. Under OSHA's 29 CFR 1910.178(l), the employer must ensure each operator completes training and evaluation before independent operation and must certify both. The rule permits supervised trainee operation under specified safety conditions. |
| Picker/packer | Specify order selection, checking items, packing, and labeling where those tasks apply. |
| Shipping and receiving clerk | Emphasize comparing shipments with orders, preparing shipping documents, and recording discrepancies. |
| Inventory associate | Specify stock monitoring, counts, and record updates that the assignment actually includes. |
Sources: U.S. Department of Labor O*NET profiles for
stockers and order fillers and
shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks, updated 2026; material-mover profile cited above;
OSHA's powered industrial truck rule, checked September 19, 2026.
Mistakes that cost you applicants
Remove avoidable uncertainty before you publish: missing pay, a vague shift, excessive qualifications, an unexplained pace, and a cumbersome application. Read the posting as someone deciding whether the work fits their schedule and experience. Make each essential condition easy to find, then remove steps that do not help evaluate the applicant.
- No pay: Replace "competitive" with the actual offer or range.
- Vague shift: Name workdays, start and end times, and overtime expectations.
- A wall of requirements: Separate essential starting skills from preferences.
- "Fast-paced environment" without detail: Explain the work sequence and how assignments are prioritized.
- A long application: Ask for information you need to decide the next step.
Want us to write and fill it?
Start the recruiting conversation with a clear assignment: the site, schedule, approved pay, essential duties, and skills needed on arrival. Bring your draft and the supervisor's answers so the discussion can focus on the actual opening. For help planning the search, explore our
industrial staffing services.
At FIS Recruitment, we discuss your hiring needs through our client assessment. We phone-screen and interview candidates before presenting them, and we conduct reference checks. Bring the completed template to that conversation so we can discuss candidates against the work you need done.
For local planning, see
warehouse staffing in the Lehigh Valley and
warehouse staffing in Hazleton. If you are considering a trial assignment before permanent employment, review
how temp to hire works.
Frequently asked questions
A useful warehouse description answers practical questions about pay, schedule, tasks, physical demands, and the hiring process. Use these answers to review your draft with the shift supervisor. Where a question involves legal coverage or equipment training, confirm the requirements for the particular employer and worksite before publishing the advertisement.
What should a warehouse worker job description include?
Include the job title, location, pay, shift, summary, duties, physical requirements, qualifications, and application instructions. Separate required skills from preferred experience, and name any equipment the person will operate. Complete the site-specific fields before posting. Ask the supervisor to confirm that the description matches the assignment, then read it as an applicant would: can someone understand where to report, when to work, and what they will do?
Do I have to include pay in a job posting?
New York Labor Law Section 194-b requires covered employers with four or more employees to disclose compensation in ads for work performed in New York. New York DOL permits a fixed rate or a good-faith range and identifies a temporary-help-firm exception. Confirm coverage for your arrangement and work location. For Pennsylvania postings, including pay is a useful practice; check applicable state and local rules rather than assuming another state's requirements apply.
What are the physical requirements for a warehouse job?
The physical requirements should reflect the specific job's lifting, standing, walking, reaching, and environmental demands. Describe the frequency and conditions of those tasks, along with available equipment or assistance. Avoid importing a lifting limit from an unrelated posting. Review the essential functions and reasonable accommodation before finalizing the description. The template leaves these details blank because your supervisor must establish them from the work performed at your site.
What is the difference between a warehouse worker and a material handler?
O*NET lists Warehouse Worker and Material Handler as sample titles under occupation 53-7062.00, Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand. That shared classification does not make every employer's assignments identical. Define the difference at your site through duties, equipment, and responsibilities. If a material handler feeds production while a warehouse worker sorts outbound goods, describe those actual assignments instead of expecting the titles to explain them.
How do I write a job description that gets more applicants?
Start by making the opportunity easy to understand and the application easy to complete. Put pay, location, and shift near the top, use concrete duty statements, and separate requirements from preferences. Explain what experience is useful and what training you plan to provide. Review each application question for a clear hiring purpose. These are practical editing steps, not a promise of more applicants; assess the response to your own posting.
Should a warehouse job description mention forklift certification?
Mention forklift training and certification when operating a forklift is part of the job. Under OSHA's 29 CFR 1910.178(l), the employer must ensure the operator is trained and evaluated and must certify that this occurred. Explain the equipment involved and the experience you seek. The rule permits trainee operation under qualified direct supervision when it does not endanger anyone. Avoid making forklift credentials a requirement for a role that does not involve operating one.
Discuss your warehouse opening with FIS Recruitment: call 800.248.8687, email info@fisrecruitment.com, or open a requisition.
This article is not legal, tax, or HR-compliance advice. Confirm requirements with the relevant labor agency or an employment attorney.
