Good hospitality induction training in week one does two separate jobs. It gets the legal basics done before or on the first shift (paperwork, right to work, fire, food safety, allergens, health and safety information), and it gives the new starter enough structure and attention that they come back for shift two. Most inductions mix the two into one long morning and do neither well.
Below is a day-by-day plan for a pub, restaurant or hotel, with the legal items pulled out on their own so you can see what is a duty and what is good practice. At the end there is a checklist you can copy, print and pin up in the office.
This post is about the first five shifts. For what happens after that (the day 30, 60 and 90 checkpoints) see our 90-day onboarding structure. For the wider question of what training the law requires across a whole team, see what training hospitality staff legally need in the UK.
A general overview for employers in Great Britain, not legal advice. Check the linked guidance for your own situation, and ask your local environmental health team or fire authority about your premises.
Is induction training a legal requirement?
Not as such. Acas is plain about it: "There's no legal requirement to have an induction." What the law does require is a handful of specific things that naturally fall in the first week, plus one point people forget: workers have the right to be paid for any hours they work from day one, and that includes induction time (same Acas page). An unpaid "induction morning" is not an induction, it's unpaid work.
So the useful split is this.
The legal bits: what has to happen, and when
Before the first shift
Right to work check. Gov.uk says you "must check that a job applicant is allowed to work for you in the UK before you employ them", and you could face a civil penalty if you employ someone who isn't allowed to work without having done a correct check. This is not a first-morning task. If the check hasn't been done, the shift shouldn't start. That includes trial shifts.
On day one
The written statement of employment particulars. Employers must give employees and workers the principal statement "on the first day of employment". It covers things like pay and how often it's paid, hours and whether they vary, holiday, place of work, any probation period and any training they are obliged to do. Sick pay, other paid leave and notice must also be given on day one, either in that document or somewhere the person can easily get to. A wider statement can follow within two months.
In hospitality, "we'll sort the contract next week" is common and it's not compliant. Have it printed or sent before they arrive.
Fire safety training. Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, employees must get adequate safety training "at the time when they are first employed", suited to the risks in your fire risk assessment, and it must take place during working hours. In practice: exits, assembly point, the alarm, and their role in getting guests out, all on shift one.
Health and safety information. HSE says you must either "display the health and safety law poster where your workers can easily read it" or give each worker the equivalent leaflet. Point the poster out on the tour. It takes ten seconds.
Before they handle food or answer a food question
Food hygiene. Gov.uk is clear that "food handlers do not have to hold a food hygiene certificate", but you must be able to show they have the right skills and training for their role, and you should keep a record of it for inspections. For a new chef or KP, that means hygiene basics are covered before they prepare food, not after a week of watching.
Illness reporting. The same page says staff must tell their manager if they're unwell, including if someone they live with has diarrhoea or vomiting, and that staff with diarrhoea or vomiting must not return until they've had no symptoms for 48 hours. Tell every food handler this on day one, and tell them how to report it without fear of losing the shift. People who think they'll lose pay come in ill.
Allergens. Gov.uk says businesses must be able to provide accurate information about the 14 allergens, must prevent cross-contamination, and should give all staff appropriate allergen training for their role. The Food Standards Agency's free online allergen training is linked from that page. For front of house, the minimum on day one is simple: where the allergen information lives, and "if you don't know, you ask, you never guess".
Day-by-day: what a good first week looks like
The legal items above are fixed. Everything else is about whether the person settles. A few principles hold across all five days: one named buddy all week, no more new information per shift than someone can actually remember, and a manager who speaks to them by name every shift. Acas makes the same point about not giving too much information on the first day.
Before day one
Send a short message with the start time, who to ask for, what to wear, where to park or which entrance to use, and how long the first shift is. Tell the team someone is starting and who their buddy is. Have the rota, uniform, locker, till login and contract ready. It's the first evidence they get of whether you're organised.
Day one: safe, legal, welcomed
- Contract and paperwork done in the first half hour, not squeezed in at the end.
- A walk-round: exits, assembly point, first aid kit and who the first aiders are, toilets, staff food, where to put their phone.
- Fire safety and the health and safety poster, as above.
- Introductions by name to whoever is on.
- For food handlers: hygiene basics and illness reporting before they touch food.
- One clear sentence on what good looks like in this role here.
- Then observe, don't perform. Keep the shift short if you can, and don't count them in the staffing numbers.
Close with two minutes: "What was confusing today? What do you need for tomorrow?"
Day two: the job itself
Shadow the buddy on a real service. Cover the core tasks for the role: for front of house, the table plan, the order flow and the till; for the kitchen, the section, the prep list and the cleaning schedule; for housekeeping or reception, the room status system and the handover. Allergen process walked through on real dishes, not as a lecture.
Day three: do it with support
Swap roles: the new starter does, the buddy watches. Pick a quieter session if you can. This is where mistakes show up cheaply, and where you find out what was explained badly on day two.
Day four: the house standards
Now that the basics are in place, cover the things that make your venue yours: how you greet guests, how you handle a complaint, how the team talks to each other, how breaks and shift swaps actually work. It lands better now they've seen the place working.
Day five: check in properly
A ten-minute sit-down with the manager, not the buddy. Ask what has been confusing, what they need, and whether anything about the role is different from what they expected. Tell them specifically what's going well and one thing to work on next week. Book the next check-in before they leave, and agree what they should be able to do on their own by the end of week two. That is where the 90-day plan picks up.
If you want a simple structure for that conversation, our post on feedback frameworks for hospitality managers covers it.
Common week-one mistakes
- Putting a new starter straight into the numbers. A gap on the rota gets filled, and you learn a month later what it cost.
- "Buddy" meaning whoever is on. If the buddy hasn't been told they're the buddy, there isn't one.
- The fire-hose morning. Everything on day one means nothing is remembered on day three.
- Paperwork "later". The written statement is a day-one duty, and the right to work check comes before day one.
- No record. If it isn't written down, you'll struggle to show an inspector that food hygiene or fire training happened.
The week-one induction checklist
Copy this, adjust it for your venue, and keep a signed copy on file.
Before day one
- Right to work check completed and copy kept
- Written statement of particulars ready to give on day one
- Start time, contact name, dress code and entrance sent to the new starter
- Buddy named and told they are the buddy
- Uniform, locker, logins and rota ready
Day one
- Written statement given (with sick pay, leave and notice details)
- Fire safety: exits, alarm, assembly point, their role in evacuation
- Health and safety law poster shown, or leaflet given
- First aid kit location and first aiders named
- Food handlers: hygiene basics and illness reporting (48-hour rule) covered before handling food
- Allergen process explained: where the information is, who to ask
- Introduced to the team by name
- End-of-shift check: what was confusing, what do you need
Days two to four
- Core tasks for the role shown on a real service
- Allergens walked through on actual dishes
- New starter doing the tasks with the buddy watching
- House standards: greeting, complaints, breaks, shift swaps
Day five
- Manager check-in held (not the buddy)
- One specific positive and one thing to work on given
- Next check-in booked
- Training covered so far recorded and signed by both
Getting week one right
None of this needs budget. It needs one person to own the checklist for each new starter (usually the manager who hired them, not whoever happens to be on) and a rota that leaves room for it. If your early leavers are a problem, it's worth checking how many go in the first month with the staff turnover calculator before you change anything else. And if you want help building the standards and the manager conversations behind a better induction, that's the kind of work we cover in our workshops.