Helping in a bar - legal or not?

My friend has asked my wife to cover some shifts as a member of his staff is off sick for a few weeks. Obviously he does not want to hire someone through the books officially and she is legally registered with the tax man etc for our business but someone mentioned to me that to work in a bar you need a Health and Safety card etc and that without it the bar owner and the person working could end up in a world of poo. Spoke to my friend and he said he would get in trouble but its not a problem. Not been able to find out for definite if she would get find personally so hoping someone here who owns a bar may know.

Cheers

ps. yep i know working off the books is wrong but her wages will still go via our accountant so any tax would be sorted.

I've not heard of that at all to be honest and I doubt if any bar staff have any sort of H&S card!

And, I don't see what your wife would be doing wrong working "self employed" in the bar.  I can't see what's wrong with this.  If she invoices the bar for her work and she pays tax on those earnings then she's not doing anything wrong.

Am I missing something here?

Justin

Managed to find out a bit more and it could be more to do with the cooking and serving of food. To work in a kitchen or anything to do with food you need to a sit an exam set by the local authority which is to do with H&S and if passed you will receive a card confirming you have been approved. As she won't be handling food this shouldnt be a problem.