Train every member of staff who serves alcohol
Every member of staff who sells or serves alcohol in Scotland — full-time, part-time, casual, paid or unpaid — has to complete a minimum two-hour training course covering the prescribed subjects (the law, responsible retailing, the licensing objectives) before their first shift selling.
Scotland only
Every member of staff who sells or serves alcohol in Scotland — full-time, part-time, casual, paid or unpaid — has to complete a minimum two-hour training course covering the prescribed subjects (the law, responsible retailing, the licensing objectives) before their first shift selling. You keep a Record of Training for each person on the premises.
This is a personal, individual duty on each member of staff, not just the DPS or premises manager. Trading with untrained staff behind the bar breaches your premises licence conditions and is something a Licensing Standards Officer checks for — it can end up as grounds for a licence review.
Covers the training duty; book a course from any SQA-accredited provider or a personal licence holder.
Who this is for
Every bar, pub, restaurant, hotel, off-licence and shop staff member in Scotland who sells or serves alcohol, including one-off event and tasting staff.
No exemption by hours worked or seniority — casual and temporary staff need the same training as permanent staff before their first shift on the bar.
What you’ll hold
- Signed Record of Training for each staff member
- Course certificate or trainer sign-off
Watch out for
- Only training the people who work the bar regularly. Anyone who might serve alcohol — floor staff covering a shift, a manager stepping in — needs the training before they do, not after.
- Not keeping the paperwork. The training itself protects you only if you can produce a signed Record of Training on demand — a verbal induction with no record does not count.
- Treating it as a one-off for the opening team. It is a recurring onboarding task for every new hire for as long as you trade, not a launch checklist item you tick once.
Sources
- gov.scot — Alcohol licensing guidance checked 2026-09-02
- legislation.gov.uk — Licensing (Training of Staff) (Scotland) Regulations 2007 checked 2026-09-02
See also
This is item 58 of 66 in the free UK Launch Checklist. See the whole list →