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Saturday 5 October 2013

Responsible Alcohol Service Training At Work

By Angel Dudley


Regardless of your position or title in the restaurant or bar business you need to know the legal liabilities and legalities concerning the sale and serving of alcoholic beverages. Opportunities for responsible alcohol service training are available in class rooms and on line. Personnel who serve or sell alcohol to the public must be able to spot a fake identification card and identify those customers who must be carded. They must also be able to spot troublesome patrons or those who abuse alcohol and handle the situation.

Laws requiring servers to have a certificate of successful completion in alcohol service training have been enacted in many states. The employee must repeat the course every two or three years and become re-certified to continue working. These courses are available on several venues.

These courses are not just for servers. The owners and managers have separate classes to attend. The differences in the courses are practical. The implementation of policy and laws are taught to the owners and managers while the serving staff learn how to keep the patronage satisfied while following the policy set forth by law and management.

When everyone has completed the courses and management has verified copies of the certificates all staff should receive a copy of company procedural policies. Most colleges recommend that you do extra training at your place of business. In-situ training has a better impact on people and will be easily remembered by most. It should be strongly impressed on your people what the consequences are for not following procedure while working.

Issue a summary of the local and state laws regarding alcoholic beverage sales to each employee. Go over the laws to be certain they understand the law and the consequences for not obeying the laws. Be sure to ask questions and encourage them to ask questions also.

Underage drinking is a serious problem. You cannot stress too much the importance of recognizing fake identification. You and your employees must have the capability to spot this problem immediately and have the tools available to verify it. False IDs are the most obvious problems in taverns. Often times customers can be seen sharing their drinks with minors or purchasing drinks for them at the bar to be taken to a table or patio area. Well trained and alert service people will spot this behavior and stop it without trouble erupting.

Identifying customers who are overly intoxicated is another specialty area in a bar or restaurant. Refusing to serve someone who has already had too much takes a lot of finesse. Even then the customer may disagree with you and cause a scene. When this happens rather than confront the person the server should have a set of actions that include being able to call the owner or manager to settle the issue.

Staff can be invaluable when it comes to the problems facing Restaurant and tavern owners. The management must also do their part by posting age limits in plain view and setting policy that enhances the customers experience in their establishment. One of the most important facets of owning a business like this is making certain that regular responsible alcohol service training continues to happen.




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