RBS CALIFORNIA RBS TRAINING
After July 1st, 2022 in the state of California, anyone who is serving alcoholic beverages in a place where they will be consumed, and the managers overseeing those servers, are required to hold a valid RBS certification. This is a mandate that comes from the California ABC (Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control). Whether you already work in the food and beverage service industry, or you plan to seek employment in this industry in the near future, it’s important to understand this requirement. Taking care of your Responsible Beverage Service training requirement as soon as possible will get this task off your plate and you’ll be able to focus on the other elements of your job duties or job search.
HOW TO GET RBS CERTIFICATION IN CALIFORNIA
All alcohol servers and managers of alcohol servers are required to complete the CA RBS three-step certification process:
- You must register and create an account in the RBS Portal, which will provide you with a
Server ID Number. - Then you need to complete the Responsible Training authorized RBS online program, which you will register with your Server ID Number.
- Finally, you must pass your ABC Alcohol Server Certification Exam within 30 days of completion of your training.
After successfully passing the exam, you may verify your certification status by logging into the RBS Portal. and viewing your status on your RBS Server dashboard. See the FAQs below for more information about using your RBS Certification
HOW THIS COURSE WORKS
Each lesson contains detailed information on the topic and fun exercises. The lessons have an optional voice over that will read the lesson out loud. After reviewing lesson materials, a five question quiz at the end will test what you have learned. Once you’ve completed all of the lessons and quizzes, you may take the final exam, which is offered only on the California ABC's RBS Portal.
HOW IS THE RBS CERTIFICATION USED?
Responsible Beverage Service (RBS) training is a mandatory program that educates people seeking employment or those who are currently employed as alcohol servers at on-premises licensed locations, such as bars, restaurants, tasting rooms, clubs, stadiums, movie theaters, hotels, and caterers. It provides servers with the necessary knowledge and skills to responsibly serve alcoholic beverages to avoid causing alcohol related harm to their communities. You will need to provide employers your name and Server ID Number so they can verify your certified status on the RBS Portal.
WHAT WILL I LEARN IN MY APPROVED RBS TRAINING PROGRAM?
After completing this responsible beverage server training program successfully, you will have learned:
- The positive and negative impacts of alcohol sales, along with the public health risks.
- Your responsibilities as an alcohol server.
- The effects of alcohol on the human body and signs of intoxication.
- How alcohol is metabolized and the effects of combining alcohol with other drugs.
- The nature of the criminal and civil legal structures in California with relation to alcohol use and service.
- Understanding of the alcohol and cannabis laws in CA.
- How the laws regulating use and service of alcohol and cannabis are enforced by the California ABC.
- How to check ID and prevent sales to intoxicated persons or minors.
- Knowledge of the penalties for violations of alcohol service laws, alcohol service prohibitions, and record keeping requirements.
We highly suggest individuals take advantage of our food handler and RBS training bundle to get their food and alcohol permits together for a lower price.
FAQs
At Responsible Training, we follow the requirements set forth in required by CA Assembly Bill 1221 and Assembly Bill 82 for on-premises alcoholic beverage servers and their managers. We understand that you might have some questions about the process, so we have taken the time to answer some common inquiries below.
IS RBS CERTIFICATION REQUIRED TO SERVE ALCOHOL IN CALIFORNIA?
Yes – From July 1st, 2022 it is required that an Alcohol Server or Manager must be trained through an approved RBS training program and then pass the RBS exam to receive ABC approved certification. New employees governed by this code must obtain RBS certification within 60 calendar days of employment. It is not possible to “grandfather-in” prior certifications. If you do not currently have a valid RBS certification earned through this process, then you must get one in order to serve alcohol in California.
WHO IS REQUIRED TO HAVE A VALID RBS CERTIFICATE IN CALIFORNIA?
Alcohol Servers and Alcohol Managers must have a valid RBS Certification to legally serve alcohol.
An alcohol server is anyone who does any of the following:
- Checks customer identification for purposes of alcoholic beverage service or entry to an ABC on-premises licensed establishment;
- Takes customer alcoholic beverage orders;
- Pours alcoholic beverages for customers; or
- Delivers alcoholic beverages to customers.
An alcohol manager is anyone who trains, directly hires, or oversees alcohol servers at an ABC licensed premises, or who trains alcohol servers how to perform the service of alcohol for consumption for an ABC on-premises licensee.
IS RBS CERTIFICATION NECESSARY FOR SERVERS AT ONE DAY EVENTS?
Yes – At least one person must be RBS trained and certified for such events. This person must be present at the event and actively oversee the alcohol service for the entire duration of the event. Additionally, the 60-day grace period exemption for alcohol server certification is not applicable.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO COMPLETE THIS APPROVED RBS TRAINING PROGRAM?
This course takes approximately two hours to complete and does not include page timers. You can start and stop this course anytime, and your current progress will be automatically saved. At the end of each lesson, you will take a 5-question quiz. These quizzes do not count toward your final grade and are used to gauge your understanding of the lesson content.
There is no final exam within the Responsible Training online course. Instead, after completing this course, you must return to the RBS Portal to take the exam.
CAN I PRINT A PHYSICAL COPY OF THE RBS CERTIFICATION?
No – Physical or downloadable copies are not available. After successful completion of the exam, your status on the RBS Server dashboard will be updated to Certified. You may verify your certification status by logging into the RBS Portal and viewing your status on your RBS Server dashboard. You will not be able to print a certificate; it can only be verified on the RBS Portal site. You must provide your employer with your Server ID so they can verify your certification status.
HOW LONG IS RBS CERTIFICATION GOOD FOR?
California ABC approved RBS certification is good for three years from the date on which you passed the exam.
HOW DO I GET A REFUND FOR MY COURSE?
Responsible Training’s first consideration is customer satisfaction. If for any reason you request a refund before a certificate is issued, we will be happy to refund you the full amount of the transaction. Note that the $3.00 fee for registering on the RBS Portal is separate from the Responsible Training course fee, and so cannot be refunded by RT.
COURSE OVERVIEW
The California RBS Training Program course consists of five lessons and quizzes. The lessons are:
Lesson 1
The Social Impact of Alcohol
Lesson 2
The Effects of Alcohol
Lesson 3
Laws and Regulations
Lesson 4
Prevention and Intervention Techniques
Lesson 5
Management Policies
