public hose

[xbeanox-1]

what is the legal age for bar tending

[stonekicker]

18 years - both in a public house and a shop as far as i am aware

[hammerman]

I thought it was 16 provided you are supervised by an adult. The youngsters at the checkouts in Tescos are always asking "is it alright to sell alcohol" to the older person on the next till.

[pink-kittens]

Hammerman is correct about supermarkets - the checkout girl can be 16 as long as she gets someone to supervise her whilst scanning it

Not sure about an actual off-licence though?

[ChuckFickens]

you can have somebody working behind a bar at 16, in practice this is not practical though as they would have to get authorisation for each and every transaction that involved alcohol.

[ChuckFickens]

pink-kittens...

A supermarket is an off-license, they have a license to sell alcohol for consumption off the premises

[moomintroll1]

There is no minimum age in licencing law, but as it is illegal to employ anyone under the age of 14, you can take that as the minimum age anyone could be employed to serve alcohol.

If the server is under 18, an adult must supervise the purchase of alcohol.

[Buenchico]

Moomintroll's answer is 100% correct but, just in case it's not clear, I'll add that 'supervision' requires each individual sale to be authorised (in the same way that young check-out staff have to ask permission every single time they sell alcohol). The licensee can't simply give 'blanket' permission for a minor to sell alcohol.

Since very few publicans would be prepared to authorise every single sale on a busy Saturday night, the minimum age for working behind a bar is effectively 18, even though the law doesn't actually define a minimum age.

Chris