Q&A

Employing own staff

Q. I am contracted with the owner of this pub under a management agreement that imposes on me an obligation to employ and pay part-time bar staff. Someone has now said that I need separate employers' liability insurance, even though the lessee has this in a package with the buildings insurance. Can you advise me?

A. I do not know the full facts of this arrangement, but, in general, those who employ staff of any kind do require employers' liability insurance.

In this instance, you are not employing staff on behalf of the leaseholder, but on your own behalf as part of a separate management agreement, so it may be that the insurance cover currently in place is not extensive enough.

However, if you have any doubt about your coverage, the easiest step is to contact the leaseholder's insurer and

explain the situation. A leading licensed-trade insurer has told me that it would probably be comparatively straightforward to add in the details of your responsibility for insurance purposes, without the necessity for taking out a new contract. There is no requirement that you should go to a completely different insurer.

Clubs and hygiene rules

Q. My daughter works in a social club and when she raised the issue of food hygiene one of the committee told her that they were exempt from most of the rules because they do not technically sell food and drink, and would not be inspected. Is this true? Our customers sometimes go to this club. Are they exempt?

A. I think it is misguided of the committee member to assume that clubs are exempt from a number of laws covering health and safety. For example, in the situation you describe, the Food Safety Act 1990 and the Regulations made under it apply to the activities of a club, even though food may not be technically sold there.

The definitions in the Act make clear the intention to cover members' clubs and, in the case of a local problem, public health inspectors are fully empowered to inspect the club premises, take samples and even prosecute if they find insanitary conditions.

This means that good hygiene practice should be followed

with regard to using a clean

receptacle and not exposing

such receptacles to the risk of contamination. Members of clubs are not exempt, even by consent. After all, germs are no respecters of membership rules.

No measure for spirits

Q. Is there still an exemption for a cocktail barman mixing spirits freehand in an ordinary licensed bar? I did not see any notice on spirits in this bar at all.

A. All licensed premises where spirits are sold by retail for consumption on the premises are obliged by law to publish the metric quantities in which the four named spirits - gin, rum, vodka and whisky - are sold. The notice must be kept permanently on display where intending purchasers can see it, and the licensee is committing an offence if he does not have it displayed.

There is, however, still an exemption for freehand pouring:

1. Where the named spirit is a constituent of a mixture of three or more liquids; or

2. Where any mixture is made up at the request of the buyer, containing one or more of the named spirits. In this case, there is no requirement that the mixture should be a minimum of three liquids.

So where a cocktail is ordered, the barman does not have to use the regulation measures.

Listing the abv

Q. Is it a legal requirement to show the alcoholic strength of drinks on the price list that goes up in your bar?

A. No, it isn't. You are right that the price list is a legal requirement under the Price Marking (Food & Drink Services) Order 2003. But the obligation to provide details of the alcoholic strength of drinks sold, other than those pre-packed (where the abv is shown), was removed in 1996 as one of the last measures of the previous administration.

Font clips often show the abv of draught beers and ciders, for the information of customers, and some price lists also do this. But there is no obligation on the licensee to do this.