Home › Restaurants, pubs and small hotels › Allergens, licensing and rates
Allergens, licensing and rates
Restaurant and pub readiness check: ten yes-or-no questions on tips, rotas, no-show charges, allergens and the licence
Ten yes-or-no questions for a UK restaurant or pub on tips, rest between shifts, no-show charges, allergen records, review replies and licence fees.
This check is for the owner or manager of an independent restaurant, pub or small hotel. The ten questions cover tips, rest between shifts, no-show charges, allergen records, review replies, Temporary Event Notices and the premises licence fee, each taken from a rule set out in our guides. It is general information, not legal advice.
There are ten questions and they take about five minutes. Answer from memory. "Not sure" counts as a gap, because a rule nobody in the office can recall is a rule nobody is checking.
Free tool
Restaurant and pub readiness check: ten yes-or-no questions on tips, rotas, no-show charges, allergens and the licence
Works in your browser. Nothing you type leaves this device.
What each question checks
1. Are all tips and service charges paid to staff in full by the end of the month after you received them? The answer that is in order is "yes". Since 1 October 2024 an employer must pass on 100% of qualifying tips with no deductions but tax, and pay them by the end of the month after the month they were received. Source: Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 and statutory code of practice. The working is in The tips law for restaurants and pubs.
2. Do you take card processing fees out of tips before they are shared? The answer that is in order is "no". Deducting card fees from tips stopped being lawful on 1 October 2024. The only deduction allowed is tax, and the records of what was received and paid must be kept for three years. Source: Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 and statutory code of practice. The working is in The tips law for restaurants and pubs.
3. Does anyone on this week's rota start a shift less than 11 hours after finishing the one before? The answer that is in order is "no". An adult worker is entitled to 11 hours' rest between working days, so bar staff who finish a close at 12:30am should not start again before 11:30am. Workers aged 16 or 17 get 12 hours. Source: GOV.UK, Rest breaks at work. The working is in Pub and bar staff rota template.
4. Is your no-show or cancellation charge shown to the customer before they book? The answer that is in order is "yes". The CMA's test is whether the charge was agreed before the booking and reflects the venue's actual loss. Its unfair contract terms guidance was updated on 22 July 2026 with new examples on cancelled bookings and deposits. Source: CMA unfair contract terms guidance (CMA37); Consumer Rights Act 2015, Part 2. The working is in Can a restaurant charge a no-show fee? What UK law allows, and the four rules that keep the charge.
5. Do you keep a no-show charge even when the table was filled by someone else? The answer that is in order is "no". If the table was filled from the walk-in queue, the venue lost nothing to charge for. A policy that charges regardless is the clearest example of a penalty and not compensation. Source: CMA unfair contract terms guidance (CMA37). The working is in Can a restaurant charge a no-show fee? What UK law allows, and the four rules that keep the charge.
6. Does your allergen matrix carry a version date and the chef's signature? The answer that is in order is "yes". A matrix has one row for each dish and 14 allergen columns. Food Standards Agency guidance says to check regularly whether ingredients have changed, so each version should be dated, checked and signed. Source: Food Standards Agency, Allergen information for non-prepacked foods: best practice. The working is in Allergen matrix template for a restaurant or pub.
7. Do sandwiches, salad pots and other food you pack before it is ordered carry a full ingredients label? The answer that is in order is "yes". Since 1 October 2021, food packed on the premises before the customer asks for it must carry a label with the name of the food and a full ingredients list, with each of the 14 allergens emphasised. Source: Food Standards Agency guidance on prepacked for direct sale food. The working is in Natasha's Law for restaurants and pubs.
8. Do you ever offer a discount, a free meal or a voucher to a customer in return for changing or removing a review? The answer that is in order is "no". An incentivised review is banned under the fake-review rules of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, in force since 6 April 2025, with penalties of up to 10% of global turnover. Source: Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024; CMA guidance CMA208. The working is in Review reply writer.
9. Do your Temporary Event Notices reach the council at least 10 clear working days before the event? The answer that is in order is "yes". A standard notice costs £21 and must reach the council at least 10 clear working days before the event. One premises may have 15 notices covering no more than 21 days in a calendar year. Source: Licensing Act 2003, sections 100 and 107; GOV.UK, Temporary Events Notice. The working is in Temporary Event Notice for a pub.
10. Do you know the date each year when your premises licence annual fee falls due? The answer that is in order is "yes". The annual fee, £70 to £350 by rateable value band, is due on the anniversary of the date the licence was granted. If it is not paid the council must suspend the licence. Source: Licensing Act 2003, section 55A; Licensing Act 2003 (Fees) Regulations 2005. The working is in How much is a premises licence? The five fee bands for a pub or restaurant, the annual fee and the suspension rule.
How to use the result
The list under your score is a to-do list. Each line names the rule, where it comes from and the page that shows how to deal with it. Put a name and a date against each one. A gap that has an owner and a date is being handled; a gap that everyone knows about and nobody owns is how firms end up explaining themselves later.
Do the check again each quarter, and again whenever a rule in this sector changes. Give it to a second person in the office without showing them your answers. Where the two of you disagree, the procedure is not written down clearly enough, and that is worth knowing whichever of you is right.
A good score is not a certificate. The questions cover the points our guides cover, which are the ones that come up most often in a small firm; they are not every duty a firm has. This page is general information, not legal advice.
Overlyft 
sets up AI assistants for restaurants, pubs and small hotels: they prepare drafts for a person to approve. They do not make a firm compliant, and none of the ten answers depends on them.
Where this comes from: Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 and statutory code of practice; GOV.UK, Rest breaks at work; CMA unfair contract terms guidance (CMA37); Consumer Rights Act 2015, Part 2; CMA unfair contract terms guidance (CMA37); Food Standards Agency, Allergen information for non-prepacked foods: best practice; Food Standards Agency guidance on prepacked for direct sale food; Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024; CMA guidance CMA208; Licensing Act 2003, sections 100 and 107; GOV.UK, Temporary Events Notice; Licensing Act 2003, section 55A; Licensing Act 2003 (Fees) Regulations 2005; each rule is set out with its source in the guide the question links to. The test record is in tests/readiness/tools-check.txt.
Put a number on it: How much money can AI save my business? · How many hours can AI save me each week? Free, in your browser, no sign-up.
AEO Lookup editorial team
We write practical guides for people who run small UK firms, and we check every fact against its source on the date shown. Read how we review, or tell us if something has changed.
