California’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of the requirement for alcohol servers to be trained in its Responsible Beverage Service (RBS) Program, which mandates training for those in California who serve alcohol at over 56,000 statewide businesses.
The RBS program went live on April 5, 2021, and alcohol servers and managers had until Aug. 31, 2022 to become certified. To date, 436,882 alcohol servers and managers have been trained and certified in responsible beverage service.
“RBS training provides alcohol servers with important information to help safeguard public safety through responsible alcohol service,” said Chief Deputy Director Joseph McCullough. “ABC’s goal is to gain statewide compliance with the training requirement.”
If you are a new alcohol server or have not yet obtained certification, visit www.abc.ca.gov/education/rbs.
Assembly Bill 1221, signed into law in 2017, created the Responsible Beverage Service Training Program Act with the intention of reducing alcohol-related harm to local communities. The bill required ABC to create a program to ensure on-premises servers of alcoholic beverages and their managers are educated on the risks of serving alcohol and related responsible practices.
Currently, alcohol servers and their managers working in California must have a valid RBS certification from ABC to serve alcohol. If they are newly hired, they must pass an exam and be certified 60 days from the first date of employment.
To meet the training requirement, any on-premises alcohol server or manager must register in the RBS Portal, take training from an authorized RBS Training Provider, and pass the ABC Alcohol Server Certification exam within 30 days of their confirmed training. There are currently 73 RBS training providers offering training in English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, and Vietnamese. The exam is available in English, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Punjabi, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.
ABC protects communities through education, prevention, and enforcement programs designed to increase compliance with California’s alcoholic beverage laws.
The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) is the agency of the government of the state of California charged with the regulation of alcoholic beverages. ABC’s mission is to provide the highest level of service and public safety to the people of California through licensing, education, and enforcement. ABC is a department of the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency.
