Employment Law ~ Public House

[mdotw]

Can anyone advise how old you have to be to work in the kitchen of a public house? My son has just been taken on by the a pub chain, I went in for a pint and the assistant manager come up to me to ask how old he was, I told him 17, he says when the manager interviewed him he told him he was 18 but he also had his application form which clearly stating dob as 1991. He says this come about when he was entering his data on the system and he realised his age from a copy of his passport application. He was not sure but thought he had to be 18 to work in the public house even though he is working in the kitchen. He has signed a contract which I have read and no where does it state an age but it does say no one will be discriminated on age, sexual orientation etc.

They are going to call there head office tomorrow to clarify, so can anyone advise?

Cheers

 

[steward 433]

16 to work in kitchens 17 to collect glasses or be out front(not serving) 18 to serve

 

[Gully]

I am not sure about the minimum age requirement to work in a kitchen, think it may be something like 14 as he won't be involved in selling alcohol, pretty sure you can work as waiting staff at that age too...my only worry would be that he told them he was 18, when in reality he is 17, lying at a job interview can often be sufficient grounds for dismissal.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

You can serve food at 16, I think.

 

[mdotw]

thanks for that, thing is he is still working right now in the kitchen, they are either using him then wanting to get rid of him or the pub chain do have a problem with under 18s, also its surely the his word against the managers as his application shows the truth?

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I am not sure about the minimum age requirement to work in a kitchen, think it may be something like 14 as he won't be involved in selling alcohol, pretty sure you can work as waiting staff at that age too...my only worry would be that he told them he was 18, when in reality he is 17, lying at a job interview can often be sufficient grounds for dismissal.

Not so.

No child of school age may be employed in a commercial kitchen.

 

[crodonilson]

In Lyme Regis, in one of the public houses they have 13 year olds working in the kitchen and serving food.

 

[steward 433]

In Lyme Regis, in one of the public houses they have 13 year olds working in the kitchen and serving food.

Illegal to employ someone under 16 as LB said

 

[Lord Bracknell]

In Lyme Regis, in one of the public houses they have 13 year olds working in the kitchen and serving food.

The regulations are enforced through County Council bye-laws. YEARS AGO, I used to administer them in East Sussex. I've checked and the prohibition of children of school age working in commercial kitchens still applies in some local authorities.

I would guess that Dorset is the same, but it's possible that the County Council allow it there.

The East Sussex County Council leaflet:-
http://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/7DB31ABB-05BB-49C2-9B95-8B5B3FA3F14E/0/employmentemployersguide.pdf

 

[steward 433]

The regulations are enforced through County Council bye-laws. YEARS AGO, I used to administer them in East Sussex. I've checked and the prohibition of children of school age working in commercial kitchens still applies in some local authorities.

I would guess that Dorset is the same, but it's possible that the County Council allow it there.

I don't think you can Ed

Due to the crackdown on health and safety i can't employ anyone under 17! most places won't employ under 16's due to the extra risk assesments etc.

It's a whole load of work for a few quid savings on wages!!!

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

I believe the minimum age for working in a kitchen (business premises) is 16. There maybe Health & Safety issues however , if there is hazardous machinery (meat slicers etc) the person has to be given adequate training and supervised at all times until they reach the age of 18. This would infer that the employee should be preferably over 18 but this contradicts age discrimination legislation. I would think that the pub manager will tell his head office your son told him he was 18 at the inteview stage but the documentation proves otherwise which gives them the option of sacking him. Might be worth giving the Citizens Advice Bureau a call tomorrow as they should be able to give you a definitive answer.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I've just checked - Dorset is no different from East Sussex.

13 year olds cannot be employed in a commercial kitchen.

Page not found - Dorset For You

 

[mdotw]

I believe the minimum age for working in a kitchen (business premises) is 16. There maybe Health & Safety issues however , if there is hazardous machinery (meat slicers etc) the person has to be given adequate training and supervised at all times until they reach the age of 18. This would infer that the employee should be preferably over 18 but this contradicts age discrimination legislation. I would think that the pub manager will tell his head office your son told him he was 18 at the inteview stage but the documentation proves otherwise which gives them the option of sacking him. Might be worth giving the Citizens Advice Bureau a call tomorrow as they should be able to give you a definitive answer.

I dont want to harp on about this technicality if he did say verbally he was 18 yet his application that he completed states 1991 so he is 17, then they gave him a contract without checking the application form? plus after telling me tonight he is still working there then surely something is not right, should they not tell him to go home until they sort this out? He does work hard they told me so, so its not like he has done wrong, so are they trying to cover there backside as they should have worked out his age by his application, they received the passport copy 2 weeks after agreeing to take him on and it has taken another week for them to realise the error?

 

[Lord Bracknell]

When she was 16, the young Miss Bracknell worked for Greene King serving food from a pub kitchen. That was legal.

 

[steward 433]

Sackable offence to give false information at an interview

 

[steward 433]

When she was 16, the young Miss Bracknell worked for Greene King serving food from a pub kitchen. That was legal.

16 is ok for kitchen and serving and out front (not serving) used to be different when i worked in a pub BUT was a long time ago

 

[Gully]

Not so.

No child of school age may be employed in a commercial kitchen.

OK, I stand corrected, it is a very long time since I have worked in catering and my memory was a bit vague...I am sure that working in the plate wash was a favourite, and well paid job when I was still at school...guess the law has changed since then.

 

[PCBEARDMLORD]

If the pub report him to the Police he could be prosecuted for lying to the manager to gain employment. He has commited an offence under S2 Fraud Act 2006. However, this would be down to the Pub and they may feel that if your son has lied once, he might lie again ...

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

I dont want to harp on about this technicality if he did say verbally he was 18 yet his application that he completed states 1991 so he is 17, then they gave him a contract without checking the application form? plus after telling me tonight he is still working there then surely something is not right, should they not tell him to go home until they sort this out? He does work hard they told me so, so its not like he has done wrong, so are they trying to cover there backside as they should have worked out his age by his application, they received the passport copy 2 weeks after agreeing to take him on and it has taken another week for them to realise the error?

They have told you that he works hard , granted , but it is to their advantage that he is working hard as somebody else doing the job could be a complete waste of time. Most companies have a probationary period for new employees to assess them or wait for paperwork/references to come through and during this time can dismiss or give them notice to leave/quit.

 

[mdotw]

If the pub report him to the Police he could be prosecuted for lying to the manager to gain employment. He has commited an offence under S2 Fraud Act 2006. However, this would be down to the Pub and they may feel that if your son has lied once, he might lie again ...

But as I said before surely if this is verbal can they prove it? as he did not lie on the application form this clearly stated 1991 so its the managers word against his so would the manager be in trouble if 18 is the legal age for giving him a contract when he clearly can see his age on the application and why would he still be working there tonight after the assistant manager come and asked me for his age?