Don’t get stung!

Retail staff could be hit with an £80 on-the-spot fine if they inadvertently sell any age-restricted products to underage youths. The Government announced its intention to blitz more than 5,000 stores and off-licences across the UK with ‘sting’ operations as part of its drive to cut down on nuisance drinking by youths.

While alcohol is the main focus, cigarettes, solvents and lottery tickets also make up the list of age-restricted products and shopworkers have to be on their guard when selling these items. The next sale could be a fine waiting to happen. Arena investigates.

Local authority 'sting' operations to catch shopworkers selling alcohol to teenagers won't solve the problem of alcohol-fuelled disorder, claims Usdaw.

These operations, carried out by trading standards officers and the police, involve sending underage teenagers into shops to buy age-restricted products. If the shopworker sells the goods without asking for proof of age they could be fined and/or prosecuted.

"In principle, we don't object to these 'stings', clearly some rogue shopkeepers do knowingly sell alcohol to youths," said general secretary John Hannett. "What we take exception to is hard-working, under pressure retail staff being criminalised for what could be a simple mistake.

"These days it's virtually impossible to identify the correct age of teenagers trying to buy age-restricted goods."

Usdaw wants a nationally co-ordinated ID scheme for teenagers. "We recently ran a workshop where MPs, under no pressure, were asked to identify the underage buyer from a group of average teenagers," added John. "Not surprisingly most of the MPs got it wrong, so what chance do our members have faced with making a split second decision in their stores?

"This disturbing result highlights the fact that without a universally recognised ID scheme for young people retail staff will find it virtually impossible to make the right call.

"This is especially true during busy periods when our members tell us they are under the maximum pressure with big queues of shoppers. Genuine mistakes can be very easily made so we don't think these sting operations will solve the problem."

Union rep Sonia Foster had to deal with one such case in her London store. "One of my members, a young woman on the checkout served a customer, who she thought looked 19 at least," she said.

"A few minutes later the police arrived, the checkout operator was scared stiff and ended up having to pay an £80 fine. I think training is crucial here, not just at the beginning of someone's career but at regular intervals as well.

"Now that selling alcohol is legal for 24-hours a day it's an issue which is even more important."

John Hannett agreed. "We have been pressing employers for better training to help staff spot underage drinkers and this has to be an ongoing issue.

"Most retailers are responsible employers, but we will continue to lobby the Government for practical initiatives, like the wider use of 'No ID, No Sale' posters, to help protect our members from violent thugs who try to intimidate them into making an illegal sale."

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© 2003 (USDAW) Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers
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Last Modified: Thursday, 29-Mar-2007 23:31:14 EST
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