Law At Work – Jersey’s leading human resources, employee relations and health and safety specialists – is offering a new cost-effective service to help any business that serves food retain or increase their all-important star rating.
From late last year any business that handles, prepares or cooks food is assessed to make sure it is hygienic, clean and its food safety processes are up to scratch. Under the States’ Eat Safe scheme, every eatery from a beach café to Michelin-starred restaurant is given a star rating from a ‘very poor’ (no stars) to an ‘excellent’ (five stars).
To help businesses meet and exceed the criteria, Law At Work has created an online learning tool that makes it easier to train staff and to monitor their progress and understanding. It means that staff can train at a time and place that is convenient to them and the business.
Law At Work recognises that language can be a barrier to effective training so all courses are available in Portuguese and Polish, as well as English. The e-training is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health so will count towards points for the star rating. It is also tailored to Jersey legislation.
For businesses that prefer traditional classroom-based training, or would like a blend of online and face-to-face training, Law At Work can still provide this.
Learning and training is not the only part of the new scheme that Law At Work can help with. If a food outlet would like a constructive assessment before the inspector arrives, qualified food safety specialists can carry out a friendly spot-check or audit and then make recommendations, if necessary.
Law At Work Managing Director Kelly Flaguel said: “Getting everyone together at the same time for food safety training can be a real headache – and so can losing staff while they go on a course. Getting a trainer in or organising a course can be expensive, and what about language problems? Perhaps, not everyone’s English is good enough to understand all the terminology.
“We, at Law At Work, are more than happy to provide face-to-face training – and many businesses we work with prefer that – but we are also launching online training in multiple languages so staff can train wherever and whenever they wish.
“Our e-learning is fully accredited and tailored to Jersey laws and standards. It will take staff through exactly the same course as they would get in a classroom, and there are online tests to check understanding.”
Feedback from those who have completed the online training has been overwhelmingly positive:
“A simple course to study and follow on-line … and great to get immediate results from the test. We shall now be offering this to all members of our team across Mange Tout.”
Darren Amy, Manager, Mange Tout
“It was very user-friendly, informative and is very good for beginners who haven’t done anything kitchen related. The depth of the explanations as I went through the process was brilliant and I felt that I finished with a really good understanding of food safety, hazards and handling.”
Hayley Farrell, aMaizin! Adventure Park
“Hayley helps run our children’s parties and we are keen to ensure all our staff are properly trained as they are handling food for party guests. We have used online training before and we are delighted there is a local alternative.”
Kristina Le Feuvre, director, aMaizin! Adventure Park
And Law At Work are holding free online clinic to answer any questions…
In order to answer questions that the hospitality industry, or any Islander, has on complying with the new Eat Safe scheme, Law At Work will be running a FREE clinic online on Monday 29 July between 10.30 am and 11.30 am. Anyone can pose a question to a team of experts at Law At Work, either on Facebook (www.facebook.com/lawatworkci) or Twitter (www.twitter.com/lawatworkci) or Linkedin (search Law At Work Channel Islands). Please use the hashtag #asklaw
Kelly Flaguel said: “This is a great way for us to interact with people who may be unsure about what the star system means or how they can improve their rating. We hope as many Islanders as possible will go online and ask us for help in order to bring some clarity to the subject.”
