Author: Stephen Hans Queens
Queens NY Labor & Employment Lawyer
New York Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) Law makes it illegal for restaurants and bars to serve alcoholic beverages to anyone who is under the age of 21 or who is visibly intoxicated. These are reasonable laws, and restaurant owners have the job of making sure their employees enforce them so they are not liable for violations.
By working with an experienced New York employment defense lawyer you can put good business practices in place that limit liability exposure. Some effective business practices for compliance with ABC laws include the following:
- Alcohol Server Education Training and certification. Ensure all your employees who serve alcohol have done Alcohol Server Education Training and received certification. The New York Liquor Authority, Division of Alcohol Beverage Control keeps records of all individuals who received certification.
- Company policies. Your employee handbook should contain information about compliance with ABC laws.
- Alcohol service notices. NY ABC law requires that you must post a notice that your establishment does not serve alcohol to individuals under 21 or to individuals who are visibly intoxicated.
- Obtaining compliance. Restaurant managers should incorporate communications about ABC laws and required compliance into staff meetings and discussions. They should work to make the restaurant’s ABC law policy well-known. Whether you hire secret shoppers to test you employees or frequently walk around the restaurant and observe that employees are complying with ABC laws, you need to make sure no violations occur.
Hans & Associates, P.C. has worked for more than three decades with small and medium-sized businesses in the Queens and New York City area. We offer our clients cost-effective legal guidance and help the deal with employment and regulatory issues.