On this page: Key takeaways · How to hire warehouse workers: which steps, in which order? · How do you define the requirements for a warehouse role? · How fast should you respond to warehouse applicants? · How should you interview warehouse candidates? · Which checks happen before the offer, and which before the first shift? · What changes when an agency supplies the warehouse workers? · What does the sequence look like in practice? · Speed and checks in one process · How Radius helps · FAQ
Key takeaways
- A warehouse hire can fail on a claim nobody checked before the offer.
- Ask every applicant the same questions: structured interviews are among the best predictors of job performance.
- Check certificates during selection. Check identity and right to work with the original document before the first shift, behind a conditional offer.
- If an agency supplies the workers, agree in writing who checks what, and when.
How to hire warehouse workers: which steps, in which order?
There are eight steps, from the requirements to the first shift.
This guide covers hiring warehouse staff year round: order pickers, packers, reach truck and forklift drivers. Peak season needs its own plan on top of this one.
| Step | What you do | What you know afterwards |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Define the requirements | List what decides day one: shifts, start date, physical work, equipment, certificates. | What the role needs, in writing. |
| 2. Post the vacancy | State shift times, pay, location and required certificates. Let people apply on a phone, without a CV. | Applicants who know the job. |
| 3. Respond the same day | Contact each applicant on the working day they apply. | Who is still interested. |
| 4. Interview with the same questions | Ask everyone the same questions and note the answers per requirement. | What each candidate says they can do. |
| 5. Check certificates | Check the certificate, the truck type it covers and the expiry date. | Which claims are backed by a document. |
| 6. Decide | A person weighs the evidence per requirement and decides. | A decision you can explain. |
| 7. Make a conditional offer | Make the offer conditional on the identity and right to work checks. | A start date tied to the checks. |
| 8. Check before the first shift | Check identity with the original document, confirm the right to work, keep the copy in the payroll records. | A worker who can legally start. |
See how warehouse teams keep these steps on one record: warehouse hiring with Radius.
How do you define the requirements for a warehouse role?
Write down only what decides whether someone can work on day one.
For each requirement, mark how you will know it. A reach truck certificate can be checked against a document; willingness to work nights can only come from the candidate. Years of experience tell you less than they seem (Three Years on Reach Trucks Tells You Less Than You Think). Put the hard parts of the job, such as a 05:30 start, in the advert (why we tell candidates about the 05:30 start).
How fast should you respond to warehouse applicants?
Within the same working day, because candidates have other options.
CBS counted 14,400 open vacancies in transport and storage at the end of the second quarter of 2026, and 95 vacancies for every 100 unemployed people across the whole Dutch labour market (preliminary, seasonally adjusted) [1]. Transport and storage covers more than warehouses, but an applicant who waits days for a reply may well have taken another job. Book the interview in your first message.
How should you interview warehouse candidates?
Ask everyone the same job related questions, and write down the answers.
In a 2022 reanalysis of earlier reviews of selection research, Sackett, Zhang, Berry and Lievens found that structured interviews had the highest average validity of the predictors they compared [2][3]. In plain words: on average they predicted job performance best, though results varied widely between studies. Keep the questions practical: Which shifts can you work, from which date? Which trucks have you driven, where and for how long? Our guide to structured interviews at high volume shows how to scale this.
Which checks happen before the offer, and which before the first shift?
Certificates during selection; identity and right to work before work starts.
Check after the offer and the certificate may turn out to cover a counterbalance forklift, not the reach truck the site needs: an empty seat on Monday.
- Certificates belong to selection. Safe operation is part of the job, so check the certificate before you decide. Our article on checking certificates before the job offer explains what the rules require.
- Identity and right to work have a fixed moment. Dutch employers must check a new worker's identity against an original, valid identity document and keep a copy in the payroll records. For a worker without Dutch nationality they must also check the right to work, unless the worker is an EU, EEA or Swiss national with free movement [4][5]. Government guidance says to do this before the person starts work [4]. What you may collect from applicants before that point is set out in our guide to verifying frontline candidates before the offer.
Skipping the permit check can be expensive. Under the government's 2025 fine policy, the standard fine for a company run as a legal entity that employs a foreign national without the required permit is EUR 6,000 per breach. Separate breaches are added together, and the amount is adjusted for culpability, seriousness and repeat offences [6].
What changes when an agency supplies the warehouse workers?
The checks still happen; you agree who does them.
When an agency places a worker without Dutch nationality with a client, it must make sure the client receives a copy of the worker's identity document at the start of the work. The client checks the identity against it and keeps the copy for at least five years after the end of the calendar year in which the work ended. This does not apply to EU, EEA or Swiss nationals with free movement [5]. Agree in writing who checks what, and which evidence travels with the candidate, such as "reach truck certificate checked, valid to May 2027", without sharing documents the client does not need.
What does the sequence look like in practice?
A few days from application to offer, with every check in place.
Illustrative example. A distribution centre needs a reach truck driver. An applicant applies on Tuesday evening and is interviewed on Wednesday morning. Her certificate is checked that afternoon: it covers reach trucks and runs to May 2027. She gets a conditional offer on Thursday, and her identity is checked against her original passport on her first morning, before she starts.
Checking the certificate after the offer, or during selection
After the offer
- An offer is made before the certificate is checked
- The certificate may turn out to cover a counterbalance forklift, not the reach truck the site needs
- MonAn empty seat
During selection
- TueShe applies in the evening
- WedInterview in the morning; certificate checked that afternoon: it covers reach trucks and runs to May 2027
- ThuA conditional offer
- StartHer identity is checked against her original passport, before she starts
A few days from application to offer, with every check in place.
Speed and checks in one process
Reply fast, ask the same questions, check certificates before you decide and finish the legal checks before the first shift. A person reads the evidence and makes the call.
How Radius helps
Radius Hire is the AI hiring platform for frontline roles in the Netherlands. The AI Interviewer gives every applicant a short, structured voice interview on their phone, whenever it suits them, in the language set for the role. Where the employer uses Radius Passport, it checks identity and right to work with a trusted verification partner and records certificates with their expiry dates, for a recruiter to review when the rules allow. It does not replace the employer's own legal duty to check identity. Match shows for each requirement whether it is backed by a document or a check, rests only on what the candidate said, or is still missing. Radius never rejects a candidate on its own; a recruiter reviews the evidence and makes every hiring decision. More on warehouse recruitment with Radius.