Does My Business Need Alcohol Safety Training?

For businesses that sell or serve alcoholic beverages, ensuring responsible consumption is a top priority. It protects your customers, your staff, and your business itself. But with so much on your plate, navigating the legalities and best practices of alcohol service can be confusing. This is where alcohol safety training can help. But does your business really need these courses? Continue reading to find out.

What Is Alcohol Training?

Usually when people say “alcohol training,” they mean alcohol server training. It can go by many other names, including alcohol awareness training, alcohol sales training, responsible beverage service training, and variations on those themes.

You’ll also hear someone refer to a “bar card” or a “bartender’s license,” which is (usually) just an up-to-date certificate of completion for an approved alcohol training course.

No matter what you call it, the goal of employee alcohol training is to ensure compliance with state or local liquor laws. The training itself teaches the relevant laws and how to avoid illegal sales, but in many cases, completing the training itself is its own compliance requirement – more on this below.

Who Needs Alcohol Training for Their Employees?

Essentially, if you require a liquor license to sell alcohol for on- or off-premises consumption, you need to mitigate your business’s liability by providing responsible alcohol service training to all public-facing employees.

This is true for restaurants, bars, breweries, convenience stores, liquor stores, and grocery stores that sell alcohol.

What Does Alcohol Training Cover?

The curriculum of alcohol server training varies from place to place, but generally speaking, it covers:

• Relevant laws and ordinances covering alcohol sales where you operate
• How to verify identity and age before serving
• The physiological effects of alcohol
• How to recognize the stages of intoxication
• Strategies for preventing minors and intoxicated persons from consuming alcohol
• The legal consequences servers personally face for making an illegal sale

Why Is It Important?

There are many facets to the importance of alcohol training. From a public health perspective, effective employee alcohol training can prevent underage drinking, alcohol poisoning, driving under the influence, and other alcohol-related safety hazards.

However, as a business owner with a liquor license, alcohol training is also important to the health and success of your venture. Below, we’ll dive into the five reasons your business will benefit from alcohol server training.

#1: Legal Compliance

Many states – from Alaska to Wisconsin – flat-out require businesses that sell alcohol to provide approved alcohol training for their employees. Failure to comply with this requirement can result in fines, loss of your liquor license, and even jail time in some cases.

In other cases, states or local jurisdictions consider employee alcohol training voluntary but incentivize it for businesses. For example, Texas gives a business “safe harbor” if it can show a consistent record of putting all employees through approved alcohol server training. If an employee makes a mistake and completes an illegal sale, the business won’t suffer administrative actions as long as they don’t push their employee to violate the law. Other states may reduce fines or waive license suspension.

Whether it’s mandatory or voluntary, there’s a good chance that alcohol safety training can save your business the cost of fines, penalties, administrative costs, and license suspensions in most jurisdictions.

#2: Improving Employee Knowledge

It’s hard to obey the law when you don’t understand what it says or how it’s applied.

Employees need to understand the consequences of overserving a patron so that they understand why it’s important to avoid it.

They need multiple methods for spotting a minor with a fake ID or identifying an adult buying alcohol with the intention of passing it to an underage drinker.

They need to understand how BAC works and what impacts it so they don’t fall for the food or coffee myth and let someone get behind the wheel that shouldn’t.

They need to know strategies for following the law with minimal conflict so that they can enforce requirements consistently and without fear of a scene.

When employees understand the law and have learned strategies for preventing legal violations, your business is more likely to remain compliant. The more team members that are educated on the topic, the more eyeballs you have available for catching a problem.

#3: Reduces Risk and Liability

Insurance companies understand that employee knowledge reduces risk and liability, which is why alcohol training for employees is often either required or can be leveraged for a discount.

It’s not just insurance companies, either. If you find yourself the subject of a dram shop lawsuit, many jurisdictions allow you to use employee alcohol training as a defense. It’s proof that you’ve taken reasonable measures to prevent illegal sales or risky consumption.

By having your staff complete alcohol safety training, you can save money on insurance premiums, settlements, court costs, and even property damage.

#4: Better Customer Service Experience

Most patrons want a bar or restaurant experience free from bar fights and drunken arguments. Responsible alcohol service training allows your employees to prevent these situations from developing in the first place.

The best alcohol server training includes strategies for spotting potential problems early and intervening with a minimal amount of conflict and fuss. This means employees will be able to keep things on an even, friendly keel and be attentive to everyone, not just the troublemakers.

Customers may not consciously register the impact, but you’ll be creating a welcoming, laid-back atmosphere that will keep people around and bring them back as loyal customers.

#5: Boosts Reputation

You don’t want to be known as the place where the night always ends in a brawl.

Responsible alcohol service training doesn’t just help your employees create a safe environment for their customer base. Many potential patrons will respect the effort that you’ve put into being a trustworthy business and protecting the community from alcohol-related tragedy.

Implementing Training for Your Business

Most businesses that need alcohol training don’t have a lot of time to design effective and accurate courses for themselves. That’s why many turn to TIPS as a widely accepted and proven training program. It’s recognized as the standard for alcohol training by liquor boards, courts, and businesses.

TIPS meets the responsible alcohol service training requirements in most jurisdictions, is accepted by over 70 insurance companies, and focuses on the practical skills necessary for reducing illegal sales.

Bulk-purchasing TIPS Passports for your entire staff is a one-stop solution for alcohol training compliance. Get yours today!