Liquor authorities recently suspended the licence of 2 popular Subiaco night spots after police lodged a complaint against the 2 bars which operate under the same licence at the same property. The action has left around 50 staff in limbo as the venues that employ them face an uncertain future, so do they.
Police requested that authorities take action against the licensee for breaching licence conditions, although they have not made public what these breaches were. The venues were forced to close despite petitions from staff and patrons.
The staff are the ones suffering the most because most of them depend on their jobs at the nightclubs for financial survival. Employees are concerned that as the venues are closed they will not get paid and will therefore not be able to pay bills and make ends meet. Some staff may have to be laid off.
Read an excerpt from a post on Au.News.Yahoo.com that details further the predicament staff of the venues find themselves in:
On Thursday, director of liquor licensing Barry Sargeant issued a Section 91 order, which suspends the venues’ licence. The order means the Gold Bar and Red Sea cannot trade until the suspension is lifted.
“This is a very serious situation for the licensee of the venues which employs 40 part-time staff and seven full-time staff,” a spokeswoman for the licensee said.
“For the majority of staff, their position at the nightclubs represents their only source of income.
“The nightclub owners will have to assess which staff may need to be laid off.”
The spokeswoman also said the owners were trying to notify patrons of the situation. Functions, including an Australia Day event, birthday parties, hens’ nights and charity events – have been cancelled.
Gold Bar bar manager Caleb Bloomer works up to four shifts a week at the venue to support himself as he studies commerce at the University of WA.
He said staff and patrons had been aware of the complaint since last month and had been signing a petition to keep the nightspot open.
“It’s come as a bit of a blow to me because, financially, I am trying to support myself and not many places are looking for workers at this time of the year,” Mr Bloomer said.
Source: http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/15957603/liquor-bans-on-subi-nightspots/
This story is a very harsh reminder of what can happen if staff and licensees do not enforce Responsible service of alcohol laws. Although it is not known what was the cause of this licence being suspended we can only speculate that since the police were involved it was RSA related.
Other licenced venue owners and staff should learn a lesson from this incident because the excerpt above points out, while patrons may lose their hangout, staff are the ones who really suffer when licences are suspended or revoked.
This should encourage staff at other venues to do all they can to reduce the alcohol fuelled violence surrounding their venues, by not serving unduly intoxicated patrons, not serving alcohol to minors and limiting the number of drinks they sell to any one patron, as well as enforcing all other responsible serving rules.
More about how to serve alcohol responsibly and avoid a similar situation at your venue can be obtained by completing your Responsible Service of Alcohol training. Not only is RSA training mandatory for work in a licenced venue but it will ensure that your source of income (the club or venue that employs you) is protected from similar situations and you and your employer do not hold any legal liability for incidents that occur in the area.