responsible beverage service training

Responsible Beverage Service Training and Your Business

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The Responsible Beverage Server Training Act, or Assembly Bill (AB) 1221, is the law that is making responsible beverage service training a requirement for alcohol servers and managers in California.

In the state of California, responsible beverage service training and certification have always been optional. However, that will not be the case for much longer.

This is because, as of July 2022, responsible beverage services will be mandated at the state level by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. This mandate falls under the Responsible Beverage Server Training Act.

The Responsible Beverage Server Training Act, or Assembly Bill (AB) 1221, is the law that is making RBS training and certification a requirement for alcohol servers and managers. When this takes effect, you won’t be able to obtain an on-sale liquor license in California without it.

As your business prepares for this new mandate, you need to learn more about it. In this post, we discuss its tools, resources, and legal background. Above all, this information will help you streamline your efforts to get RBS-certified.

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RBS Training Programs

Businesses will be able to leverage educational RBS training programs. These programs will help prepare them for the exam required for RBS certification.

The good news is that businesses can conduct responsible beverage service training quickly and efficiently. That is to say, you can choose an online training program that offers all the tools and resources you need to prepare for certification. Business owners and staff can also benefit from easy-to-use online training programs that give them flexibility to learn and prepare for certification. Moreover, they can do so without disrupting business operations.

RBS Certification

Responsible Beverage Service certification will indicate that an establishment has the knowledge and resources to handle and serve alcohol responsibly. RBS training and certification also helps establishments that purvey alcohol to ensure that employees and staff teams handle its supply responsibly. In other words, employees of these establishments understand the dangers of serving minors and over-serving patrons.

The Responsible Beverage Server Training Act

As your business prepares for RBS training and RBS certification, there are some legalities you will want to know.

An alcohol server under AB 1221 is anyone who:

  • Verifies customer identification to sell an alcoholic beverage.
  • Receives an order for an alcoholic beverage.
  • Pours alcohol to customers.
  • Or delivers orders of alcoholic beverages to customers.

An alcohol manager is someone who oversees the serving of alcoholic beverages. Moreover, under AB 1221, this is an individual who either directly hires or trains alcohol servers on the practices associated with the sale and consumption of alcohol.

Both servers and managers will need to receive RBS training and certification come July of this year. This will foster synchronicity between the order, service, sale, and consumption of alcohol. Additionally, this includes the management of the whole process.

Benefits of RBS Training

Responsible beverage service training will benefit many different businesses across many different industries. For example, employees of a hotel, or a service crew on a charterable vacation yacht are both staff teams within the hospitality and tourism sector. They could benefit from RBST.

Moreover, if a restaurant’s employees all have completed RBS training, then that establishment is actively contributing to the reduction of alcohol-induced harm in its community.

The main benefit of workers and managers receiving RBST is improved alcohol serving standards and practices. RBS training teaches practices such as understanding the number of drinks a patron has consumed. This helps employees measure their potential blood alcohol count. They might also encourage a patron to order food with their next beverage if that patron has consumed more than one drink in a short period of time.

Mandated responsible beverage service training will transform spaces. It will allow for the consumption of alcohol in a safe environment and a decrease in intemperate drinking in establishments.

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The Future of Responsible Beverage Service

Anywhere in California where alcohol is licensed to be served and sold—such as bars, trains, boats, restaurants, clubs, event halls, cafes, and concerts—will all be permitted. This will ensure that their alcohol servers and managers are certified in responsible beverage service.

Establishments can leverage time and cost-effective training programs to help them successfully obtain their certification.

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