Quick answer
- Copy the template that fits the role: hourly/frontline annual, salaried with goals, 90-day new hire, or quarterly check-in. Replace every [bracketed] item.
- Use a 5-point scale with written anchors for each rating, and back every rating with a dated, specific example from the whole review period.
- Rate everyone on the same criteria, and never count protected leave (FMLA, protected sick leave, accommodations) or any protected characteristic against anyone.
This performance review template set is written for US small businesses with hourly crews, salaried office staff or both. You get four forms you can paste into a document or your HR system today: an annual review for frontline staff with behavior-anchored ratings, a goals-based review for salaried employees, a 90-day review for new hires, and a short quarterly check-in. Replace the [bracketed] items, delete sections that do not fit the job, and read the guidance after the templates on rating scales, comment phrasing, bias and the legal basics. This is general information, not legal advice.
Employee performance review templates to copy
Each block copies as plain text. Template 1 suits restaurant, retail, warehouse, healthcare support and field staff. Template 2 suits office and salaried roles where goals matter more than shift coverage. Template 3 closes out onboarding, and Template 4 is the 15-minute check-in between formal reviews.
How to fill in a performance review template
Here is how a manager at Northfield Coffee in Austin, Texas, would use Template 1 for Jordan Lee, a barista paid $18.25 an hour. The same steps work for any form.
- Pull the records first. Before writing a word, gather the year’s schedule and time clock history, one-on-one notes, customer comments, any written warnings and any praise. Reviews written from memory drift toward whatever happened last month.
- Remove protected time. If Jordan took FMLA leave, used protected sick leave or had an approved schedule accommodation, take those dates out before you look at attendance. Our attendance policy guide lists the absences that should never become points.
- Rate each category against its anchor. Read the 5, 3 and 1 descriptions and pick the one that matches the evidence. If Jordan clocked in late four times in March and not again after a coaching talk, a 3 or 4 with that context is fairer than a 2.
- Write one dated example per rating. “Covered three open Saturday shifts in July and August” beats “team player.” See the examples below.
- Pick the overall rating last, and explain it in a sentence. Do not let one standout category decide it.
- Share it before or at the meeting, give the employee time to add comments, and get the acknowledgment signature. File a copy in the personnel record.
For salaried staff, ask for the self-assessment in Part C of Template 2 a week before the meeting. Our guide to self performance review examples gives employees phrases they can adapt, which makes the conversation faster and more honest.
Performance review rating scales explained
The scale matters less than whether every manager reads it the same way. Three common choices:
| Scale | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| 5-point (Exceptional to Does not meet) | Annual reviews, raise decisions, mixed hourly and salaried teams | Managers putting everyone at 4; define 3 as a good, solid rating |
| 3-point (Exceeds, Meets, Below) | Small teams, first-time reviewers | Too little spread to tie to pay steps |
| Status (On track, Partly, Not on track) | 90-day reviews and quarterly check-ins | Not a substitute for an annual rating |
Templates 1 and 2 use behavior anchors: a short description of what a 5, a 3 and a 1 look like for that category. Anchors turn “I think Maya is a 4” into “Maya does what the 4 describes, and here is when.” Write anchors for your own jobs once, review them with every manager, and keep them the same for everyone in the same role during the year.
Performance review examples and phrases: specific vs vague
Good performance review phrases name the behavior, the time and the effect. Vague ones describe the person. The left column below is what you will see in most files; the right column is what helps the employee and stands up if the review is ever questioned.
| Vague | Specific |
|---|---|
| Great team player. | Covered three open Saturday shifts in July and August when two baristas were out, and trained the new hire on the espresso machine without being asked. |
| Needs to be more reliable. | Clocked in 10 or more minutes late on five non-protected shifts between January and March. After our April talk, there were no late arrivals through October. |
| Bad attitude with customers. | Two customer complaints in May described interrupting and an abrupt tone at the register. Goal: use the greet, listen, solve steps from training; we will check in monthly. |
| Very detail-oriented. | Closing cash counts balanced on every shift reviewed this year, and caught a double charge on a catering invoice in September. |
| Communication could improve. | Two client projects started late in Q2 because status updates were not shared. Goal: send a written update every Friday on each open project. |
| Not a culture fit. | (Do not use. Describe the job-related behavior instead, or leave it out.) |
A few more phrases that work across roles:
- “Consistently meets the food safety checklist; no corrections on any spot check this year.”
- “Learned the kitchen and front counter stations, so we can schedule [name] on either.”
- “Delivered the [project] on [date], two weeks ahead of the agreed deadline.”
- “To reach a 4 next year: lead at least one opening shift a week without a supervisor.”
Avoid words about age, energy, appearance, family, accent, religion or health, even as praise. “Young and energetic” and “great for someone with kids at home” describe a protected characteristic, not job performance.
Avoiding bias in performance reviews
Most unfair reviews are not malicious. They come from a few predictable habits:
- Recency bias. The last six weeks crowd out the first ten months. Fix it with notes from each quarterly check-in (Template 4) and by reading the whole year’s records before rating.
- Halo and horns. One strong trait, or one bad day, colors every category. Rate each category on its own evidence and fill in the overall rating last.
- Leniency and central tendency. Everyone gets a 4, or everyone gets a 3. That makes raises arbitrary. Ask managers to show an example behind every 5 and every 2.
- Similar-to-me. Managers rate people who remind them of themselves higher. Behavior anchors and dated examples are the best guard.
- Inconsistent standards. One shift lead counts a 6-minute late clock-in, another ignores 15. Write the standard once, as our tardiness policy guide recommends, and apply it to everyone.
If you have more than one reviewer, have them compare ratings for similar roles before reviews go out. A 20-minute calibration meeting catches most of these problems.
Legal cautions for performance reviews
No federal law requires private employers to do reviews. But a review is often the first document a lawyer asks for after a firing, a denied raise or a discrimination charge, so write each one as if a stranger will read it.
Federal anti-discrimination laws
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces federal laws that bar discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation and gender identity), national origin, age (40 or older), disability and genetic information. The EEOC says these laws cover pay, promotions, discipline and other terms of employment. Most of them apply to employers with 15 or more employees, and the age law to employers with 20 or more, while the Equal Pay Act covers virtually all employers. State and city laws often cover smaller employers and more characteristics. Never mention a protected characteristic in a review.
Protected leave and accommodations
The Department of Labor’s FMLA regulations (29 CFR 825.220) say employers cannot use the taking of FMLA leave as a negative factor in employment actions such as promotions or discipline, and cannot count it under no-fault attendance policies. That means FMLA leave cannot lower a reliability rating or appear as a negative comment. Many state and city paid sick leave laws protect sick time the same way. Our FMLA leave guide explains who is covered.
For employees with disabilities, the EEOC’s guidance on applying performance standards says employers may hold them to the same performance standards as others in the job and should evaluate them the same way, but an employee using an approved accommodation must be evaluated on that basis. Do not count accommodated schedules as absences, and do not take an accommodation away because of a low rating. If an employee responds to a review by mentioning a medical issue, start the accommodation conversation rather than ignoring it.
Retaliation
The EEOC lists “a performance evaluation that is lower than it should be” as a possible form of retaliation against someone who complained about discrimination or took part in an investigation. If an employee recently made a complaint, have a second manager check that the ratings match the evidence.
Document consistently and keep records
- Use the same template and criteria for everyone in the same role.
- Make the review match what you have already said. A “meets” review followed by a firing for poor performance two months later is hard to explain.
- Under EEOC rules, keep personnel records, including reviews, for at least one year, and for one year from the date of an involuntary termination. If a charge is filed, keep everything related until it is fully resolved. Many employers simply keep reviews for the length of employment plus several years.
- Keep your at-will statement intact. A review that promises “a job here as long as you keep this up” can undercut it. Our employee handbook template includes at-will wording you can match.
Linking performance reviews to raises
If ratings drive raises, write the link down before the review cycle starts, so managers rate the work and not the budget. A simple merit table might look like this. The percentages are illustrative only; set your own based on your budget and local pay rates.
| Overall rating | Illustrative raise | Example: Jordan Lee at $18.25/hr |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Exceptional | 5% | $19.16 |
| 4 Strong | 4% | $18.98 |
| 3 Meets | 2.5% | $18.71 |
| 2 Needs improvement | 0%, review again in 90 days | $18.25 |
| 1 Does not meet | 0%, written improvement plan | $18.25 |
The math: $18.25 × 1.04 = $18.98. At 5%, $18.25 × 1.05 = $19.1625, rounded to $19.16; at 2.5%, $18.25 × 1.025 = $18.70625, rounded to $18.71.
Three rules keep this fair. Apply the same table to everyone in the same job. Hold the pay conversation in the same meeting or soon after, so the employee connects the two. And check the results: the Equal Pay Act lets pay differ for equal work only because of seniority, a merit system, quantity or quality of production, or a factor other than sex, so a consistent, documented merit system is part of your defense. If a raise moves someone across an exempt salary threshold or changes how their overtime is figured, check our exempt vs non-exempt guide.
How often to do performance reviews
- New hires: check-ins at day 30 and 60, and a written review around day 90 (Template 3). Dana Brooks, who started at Northfield Coffee on November 2, 2026, would have her 90-day review on or near January 31, 2027. Our employee onboarding guide covers what each check-in should include.
- Everyone: one written annual review (Template 1 or 2). Many small businesses run it on hire anniversaries; others do all reviews in one month so raises land together.
- In between: a quarterly check-in (Template 4), or a monthly one for hourly teams with frequent schedule changes. These are what make the annual review accurate.
- When something changes: a promotion, a new role, or a performance problem that needs a written plan should not wait for the annual cycle.
Whatever schedule you pick, keep it for every employee. Reviewing only the people you are worried about is how inconsistent documentation starts.
Frequently asked questions
What should a performance review template include?
At minimum: the employee, job title, review period and reviewer; a rating for each core part of the job with a defined scale; written examples behind each rating; goals for the next period; an overall rating; space for the employee's comments; and signatures. The signature line should say it confirms the employee saw the review, not that they agree with it.
Is a performance review required by law?
No federal law requires private employers to give performance reviews. But once you do them, they become evidence of how you treated people. Federal anti-discrimination laws enforced by the EEOC cover pay, promotions and discipline, so reviews tied to those decisions should be consistent, documented and based on job performance alone.
Can an employee refuse to sign a performance review?
Yes, and it does not make the review invalid. Write "employee declined to sign" with the date, have a second manager initial it, and give the employee a copy. Remind them they can add written comments. Wording the signature line as an acknowledgment of receipt, not agreement, makes refusals less common.
Can I mention FMLA leave or sick days in a performance review?
Not as a negative. FMLA regulations say employers cannot use the taking of FMLA leave as a negative factor in employment actions, and many states protect paid sick leave the same way. Rate attendance only on absences and late arrivals that are not protected, and leave approved leave and accommodations out of the comments.
How often should employees get a performance review?
Most small businesses do one written review a year, a 90-day review for new hires, and short quarterly or monthly check-ins in between. Hourly teams with high turnover often benefit from quarterly check-ins because the annual review comes too late to help. Pick a schedule you can keep for every employee, not only some.