Employing under-18s in hospitality: the UK rules

Hospitality is one of the biggest employers of young people, and a restaurant kitchen is exactly the kind of higher-risk environment the law watches most closely when an under-18 is on the rota. The rules aren't a reason not to hire young staff — they're a checklist to do it safely and legally. Here's what applies.

The first duty: a young-worker risk assessment

Before an under-18 starts, you must carry out a specific risk assessment for young persons under regulation 19 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. It has to account for their inexperience and lack of awareness of risks, the layout of your workplace, and the equipment and substances they could come into contact with. This is separate from your general risk assessments, and it's the single most commonly missed obligation when hiring young staff.

Tasks and equipment that are off-limits

Young workers must be protected from work that's beyond their capacity or carries unavoidable risk. In a kitchen that typically rules out:

• dangerous machinery — meat slicers, dough mixers, band saws;
• draining or moving hot oil and deep-fat fryers;
• working at height;
• handling certain hazardous COSHH chemicals;
• late-night lone working.

Your risk assessment should name exactly which tasks are off-limits at your premises — generic lists aren't enough.

Hours, rest and night work

For young workers over school-leaving age, the Working Time Regulations 1998 set tighter limits than for adults:

• generally a maximum of 8 hours a day and 40 a week;
• at least 12 hours' rest between working days;
• two days off a week;
• generally no work between 10pm and 6am (or 11pm and 7am), with limited exceptions.

These can't be averaged out or opted out of the way some adult working-time limits can.

Children below school-leaving age

Different, stricter rules apply to children below school-leaving age under the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 and local council byelaws. They can do light work only, need a work permit issued by the local authority, cannot work during school hours, and face tight daily and weekly hour limits. A commercial kitchen role is generally not appropriate for this age group.

And the alcohol rule

A 16 or 17 year old can serve alcohol in England and Wales only where each sale is specifically approved by the DPS, a personal licence holder, or someone they've authorised. See our guide to alcohol licensing and Challenge 25 for how that authorisation works.

Inducting young staff safely — and proving you did

Hiring an under-18 adds a layer of induction: the tasks they can't do, the hours they can work, the extra supervision — all of which has to be communicated and recorded. Doing that consistently for every young starter is where it tends to slip.

frunt turns your safeguarding and induction procedures into role-based training young staff complete on their phones, and keeps a dated record of who's been inducted on what — so the extra duties around employing under-18s are evidenced, not left to memory. Get started with frunt, or book a walkthrough.