Age-restricted sales — staff training record

What you need to know

The plain-English guidance that comes with this document.

• Training records are the second pillar of your due-diligence defence. The refusals log shows the shop refuses; this shows every person behind the till knew how to. Together they're what a court, Trading Standards, or a licensing panel wants to see. A signed training record per person is strong, cheap protection.
• Train before they serve — not after. A new starter should go through this on day one, before their first shift on the till. The most common underage sale is by an untrained new or temporary member of staff who didn't want to cause a fuss. Ten minutes up front prevents it.
• The signed declaration matters. When a member of staff signs to say they understood the law and the policy, it removes the "nobody told me" defence and reinforces that this is serious. It also protects them — they know they'll be backed up for refusing.
• Refresh it — the law is moving. With the disposable-vape ban, nicotine pouches coming into the regime (29 October 2026) and the generational tobacco ban (1 January 2027), there's real, dated change to brief staff on. Use the refresher grid to log those briefings — that's exactly the kind of thing that shows you stayed on top of it.
• Keep it with the person's file. This is personal data about a member of staff — store it securely with their other employment records. When they leave, keep it as long as your retention rules require.
• Consider a recognised course too. For selling alcohol, the person named on the premises licence (the DPS) needs a personal licence, and many shops put staff through a short accredited age-restricted-sales course. This record works alongside that, capturing your own in-house briefing.