On July 1, 2022, California Assembly Bill 1221 named the Responsible Beverage Service Training Act, will go into effect and will require alcohol servers and managers at over 56,000 California businesses to complete the Responsible Beverage Service Training by August 31, 2022.
The law requires that anyone who serves alcohol, manages servers, delivers alcohol, takes orders, or checks IDs at a business that serves alcohol on-site must be trained to serve alcohol legally and safely to the public by August 31, 2022. The law authorized the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) to establish the Responsible Beverage Server Training Program (RBSTP). Under the program, every alcohol server and their manager must have a valid Responsible Beverage Server (RBS) certification from ABC.
They can accomplish this through a three-step process:
1. Register with ABC as a Server on the RBS Portal: https://abcbiz.abc.ca.gov/
2. Take RBS training from an approved RBS Training Provider
3. Return to the RBS Portal to take ABC’s alcohol server certification exam.
The RBSTP educates servers how best to check identifications to prevent sales of alcohol to people under the age of 21, prevent over-serving to patrons, and ensure no one leaves the location in an obviously intoxicated state.
Employers can expect to pay around $12.00 per employee to complete the program, approximately $9.00 for the training and $3.00 for the exam.
