Serve Responsibly
Alcohol Accountability
Responsible Service Must be a Cultural Element
We have all seen the recent “Drinkability” ad campaign. It’s catchy. I am hopeful that
a campaign for “Accountability” will be
just as catchy.
We, the purveyors and servers of
spirits, wine and beer, need to hold our
employees and ourselves accountable
for the responsible service of these
beverages.
I still witness or hear about places
that are rather flippant when it comes
to responsible service of alcohol and
holding their employees accountable to
that objective.
Accountability starts with the culture
of the operation. If managers take it
seriously, the staff will take it seriously. If you have 10-ounce Martinis,
free-flowing bottle service or managers
or employees consuming leisurely, surreptitiously or as part of the job on the
premises, then your employees, well,
you get the picture — I hope.
A responsible service course is just
the beginning for an accountability
culture. Yes, you read that right, just
the beginning. Four hours or so of
training, every couple of years, during
which they feed employees the same
old information is just not defensible in
a courtroom today.
And let’s all realize that training, education, repetition and follow-up coaching are only effective if a culture of
responsibility, including accountability,
is in place. Such a culture reminds staff
every day about responsible service via
daily line-ups, POS system pop-up messages, service education that occurs
more frequently than the law requires
and the development of policies that
are enforced.
Many operators have a policy requiring management authorization of continued service after a customer consumes
a certain number of drinks. While this
is a helpful policy, it ignores the issue
of how much alcohol the customer
has consumed. In some drinks served
today, like larger Martinis, a customer
could have consumed 5 to 7 ounces of
alcohol with one drink (the equivalent
of four to six mixed drinks with a 1.25-
ounce pouring). Accordingly, we need
policies that focus on the amount of
alcohol served and consumed, not just
the number of drinks.
Once the right policies are in place,
it is imperative that all staff be held
accountable for complying with those
policies. The culture of accountability begins with the job description.
It should clearly explain that all staff
members are expected to serve alcohol
responsibly and in accordance with
responsible training and education.
Once the right policies are
in place, it is imperative that
all staff be held accountable
for complying with those
policies. The culture of ac-
countability begins with the
job description.
The next step is to expand the group
of staff members who are included in
the responsible training pool. We should
be inclusive rather than exclusive. Anyone who might interact with a customer
who is consuming alcohol should be
included in the training. So in addition
to the usual managers, bartenders and
servers, effective policies on training
should also include hosts, hostesses,
bussers, bouncers and valets.
In addition to the daily reminders
of responsible service, responsible
and accountable cultures use mystery
shoppers to ensure compliance with the
By Stephen Barth
Stephen Barth,
author of Hospitality
Law and coauthor
aurant Law Basics, is
of Rest
an attorney and the founder of
HospitalityLawyer.com and the
annual Hospitality Law Conference series. He can be reached
at sbarth@hospitalitylawyer.
com. The information provided
in this article is general and
for educational purposes only
and is not legal advice. For additional information, go to www.
hospitalitylawyer.com.
