drinking age

[gill22]

i was at work today and served a girl who appeared to be in her early 20s with a bottle of bacardi breezer after i served her a woman from trading standards approached me and said the girl was only 15 i as gobsmacked as i genuinly thought she lookrd at least 22 i was given a 80 pound fixed penalty can i be sacked from my job this is my first mistake in 15 years i am really worried

[Buenchico]

To be dismissed for a one-off incident, it would have to be sufficiently serious for it to be regarded as 'gross misconduct'. Serving alcohol to under-18s might fall into this category.

Many employers might specifically tell their employees that serving alcohol to under-18s is a dismissal offence but an employee who was sacked for doing so could still challenge the decision on the grounds that it they'd made a genuine misjudgement on a single occasion. If the employer knew that the employee was normally extremely vigilant, it might be hard to prove 'gross misconduct'.

Further information about possible dismissal is here:
http://www.ukonline.direct.gov.uk/en/Employmen t/Employees/RedundancyAndLeavingYourJob/DG_100 26619
(Under 'Where to get help', you'll find the phone number for the ACAS helpline. If you want to discuss your situation with someone, that's the number to ring).

I think that you should tell your boss how upset and worried you are through what has happened. At best, you'll find your employer supportive and you can stop worrying. At worst, you'll know that you might face dismissal and you can seek the help of ACAS in challenging this.

Chris

[THECORBYLOON]

To correct the first reply,The LIcsensing Act 2003 gives the defence as follows-

"(a)he believed that the individual was aged 18 or over, and
(b)either�
(i)he had taken all reasonable steps to establish the individual�s age, or
(ii)nobody could reasonably have suspected from the individual�s appearance that he was aged under 18.
(5)For the purposes of subsection (4), a person is treated as having taken all reasonable steps to establish an individual�s age if�
(a)he asked the individual for evidence of his age, and
(b)the evidence would have convinced a reasonable person."

I am sure Trading Standards would not have used someone who could have passed as 18 since that would defeat the object of the test and it would not be merely misjudgement that the sale was allowed.

[loonytunes]

Further info, the code of practice says:-

The volunteer must not wear make-up or dress to look older than they are.
The young person will be accompanied by at an officer in the shop and by at least two officers at all other times.
If the officer is in the opinion that the young person is or is likely to be treated in an inappropriate manner, then the officer will approach the shopkeeper whilst the young person is in the shop.
The young person�s identity is not revealed in any subsequent publicity.
No payment is made for the young person�s assistance, but appropriate refreshments are provided.
The purpose of the exercise is to aid prevention of the illegal sale of age-restricted products and where necessary obtain evidence to mount a prosecution.

The fixed penalty wll count as one of the three strikes towards an automatic revokation of your employer's licence. There may also be a review of this licence called by the police at the Counci. The Designated Premises Supervisor may also face some stronger action in court.

By the way, are you under 18?

[THECORBYLOON]

Eddie I posted the full defence because there is a difference between one person honestly believing a person is 18 and "nobody could reasonably have suspected from the individual�s appearance that he was aged under 18."

I may see a car travel down the road at what I honestly believe to be reasonable speed but if a hundred other folk think the opposite, the chances are that the car is speeding,