Staff training record template: free printable sheet for hospitality

Print one copy of this sheet for every member of staff, fill in the top on their first day, and add a line each time they're trained in something. Keep it in their file. Use the button below or press Ctrl+P (Cmd+P on a Mac): only the sheet prints.

How to use the record

1. Start it on day one. Fill in the top and do the basics before their first shift: handwashing, fitness for work and allergens.
2. Cross out what doesn't apply. A kitchen porter doesn't need cellar training; a glass collector doesn't need the probe.
3. One line per session, including refreshers. If allergens are retrained after a menu change, that's a new line.
4. Both initial. The trainer's initials say it was delivered; the staff member's say they received it.
5. Set a refresh date where it makes sense: after a menu change for allergens, when procedures change, or when a certificate expires.
6. File certificates with the sheet. Keep the record somewhere you can find it during an inspection.

What the law asks for

Food hygiene law says food business operators must make sure food handlers are supervised and instructed or trained in food hygiene to a level that suits their work. GOV.UK puts it plainly: food handlers do not have to hold a food hygiene certificate, but you must be able to show your staff have the right skills and up-to-date training for their role, and you should keep a record of training so you can show it during an inspection. It also says staff must be trained to manage allergies.

The FSA's Safer Food, Better Business (SFBB) pack gives a method that works for most kitchen and bar training: show the person what to do, question them on it, then ask them to show you. Make a note on the training record every time, and retrain anyone who isn't following a method properly.

Scotland, alcohol. Staff who sell or serve alcohol without a personal licence need at least two hours of training covering the matters set out in the Licensing (Training of Staff) (Scotland) Regulations 2007. The premises must keep a training record for each of them, in the form set out in the regulations, and produce it to a Licensing Standards Officer on request. Use that official form for alcohol training and treat this sheet as the rest of the picture.

For more on what to train and when, see our guide to staff training records in hospitality and the staff induction checklist.

Where training records go wrong

• Started, never finished. The sheet is filled in for the first week and never touched again, so refreshers after menu changes go unrecorded.
• No trainer named. "Trained in allergens" with no name or date is hard to stand behind.
• Certificates in a drawer somewhere else. Keep them together.
• Leavers' records thrown away straight away. Keep them for a while in case questions come up later.

How ShiftComplete fits around it

ShiftComplete doesn't store training certificates, so keep this sheet for that. Where it helps is showing the training working day to day. Opening, closing and cleaning checklists record who ticked each check and when, with optional photo evidence, so you can see a new starter doing the routine you trained them in. The allergen matrix lives in the app, searchable from the floor, so front-of-house staff can check a dish rather than guess. And team announcements mean a change to procedures, or a reminder to read the new menu's allergens, reaches everyone instead of getting lost in a group chat.

It's £1.49 per staff member per month, every feature included, and free for 60 days with no card needed.