Overview

UK Licensing Regulations require appropriate managers to hold a personal licence and delegate responsibility. Therefore, it is critical that operational staff fully understand their legal responsibilities when serving alcohol, as well as the consequences of breaking legislation. From a manager’s perspective, confidence in delegating responsibility to team members is key — after all, it’s their license at risk.

This Licensing Awareness for Operational Staff module is not the full Personal Licence course which must be undertaken by Premises Supervisors and other key Managers and is available through endorsed providers.

This module firstly considers the key licensing and consumer legislation that staff need to be aware of such as; ensuring the summary licence is displayed clearly, who they should not serve alcohol to and the penalties, and how consumer legislation is applied such as; informing customers whether ‘coke’ or ‘pepsi’ is served. The correct legal measure (UK) for different drinks is identified along with the requirement to serve water. Team members may be unsure of situations where the under 18 service rule applies and this module has a series of questions that help identify these areas along with the use of Under 25 checks and the types of ID that are acceptable.

The module explores the stages of intoxication, how not to respond and gives tips on handling drunk and aggressive customers. Reference is made to Drinkaware and how to calculate alcoholic units. Hospitality venues are often targets for drug dealing and the module finishes with how to recognise the signs of drug misuse on the premises and in individuals.

Key benefits of this module:

• Understand their responsibilities under the Licensing regulations
• Know the penalties for breaking UK licensing legislation
• Know who they cannot serve alcohol to
• Understand why named brands cannot be topped up or replaced with cheaper brands
• Not dilute alcohol in bottles
• Check best before dates
• Ensure drinks are correctly described to customers
• Understand why the correct measured must be used
• Know what the correct measures are for a range of alcohol
• Understand that tap water must always be offered to customers
• Understand how age verification checks are applied and the penalties
• Know what documents are acceptable
• Recognise customers who are intoxicated and the actions to take
• Understand alcohol by volume and alcohol units
• How to respond to a violent customer
• Recognise key signs of drug use on the premises
• Know how to handle syringes and razors safely

Format

The course is delivered fully online and is split into five highly interactive sections. Learners will engage with lots of questions and activities that use real hospitality situations and finish with a quiz to ensure points are remembered and understood. The module may be completed in short sections over a period of time or all at one go!  In addition, there are links to websites and documents that can be used to research further learning.

Sections include:

• Licensing & Consumer legislation
• Weights & Measures
• Age Verification
• Handling intoxicated customers
• Drug Awareness

Learning Objectives

• Identify key legislation that effects licensed premises
• Identify legal measures for alcoholic drinks
• Describe how to carry out age checks
• Identify indicators of excessive alcohol
• Describe the action you would take when dealing with disorderly customers
• Recognise signs of drug misuse on the premises

Accreditation

This module is accredited by the Institute of Hospitality with CPD points

Who Should Take This Course?

This module is designed for all operational team members that serve alcohol in any type of Hospitality venue including; hotels, bars, restaurants and event venues. It is best placed as part of an induction programme but can also be used as a refresher or to meet a specific need. It is not the full Personal Licence that designated premises supervisors and key managers require which is available through endorsed providers.

The module will contribute to the off the job training hours for team members undertaking the various food and drink pathways of a Level 2 Hospitality Team Member apprenticeship.

Test

At the end of the course, learners complete a 20-question quiz in the same style as the learning activities (drag-and-drop, single choice, multiple choice). The pass mark is 80%, with unlimited retakes available.