It has been widely publicized that the Illinois Liquor Control Act (235 ILCS 5/1-1, et seq) has been amended in Illinois by way of the Culinary and Hospitality Modernization Act. The Act allows, among other things, for the return of happy hour to Illinois. However, what has been lost in the celebration is that the law added the requirement of additional training for those employees that serve alcohol.
For those in Cook County, all employees serving alcohol must pass a certified Beverage Alcohol Sellers and Servers Education and Training (BASSET) course by July 1, 2015, or within 120 days of hire. For those in other counties with population over 200,000 people, the employee serving alcohol must take the course by July 1, 2016, or within 120 days of beginning employment. Smaller counties with population of 30,000 to 200,000 must have employees serving alcohol take the course by July 1, 2017, or within 120 days of hire, and the same provisions apply for under 30,000 but the time is extended to July 1, 2018.
For owners, managers, investors, and license holders, this requirement is extremely important. The liquor license holder can be cited, fined, and sanctioned by the Illinois Liquor Control Commission and the local municipality for failing to produce records. Further, failure to comply could be grounds for liquor license suspension. Additionally, the failure to comply with the law can be prima facie evidence of negligence in a dram shop type proceeding, which could be enormously costly.
Best practices are to require all new employees to complete the training and produce evidence of the certification, and to maintain such records in the personnel file. The Illinois Restaurant Association offers a comprehensive, and affordable course here. While celebrating the return of happy hour, please also heed this warning and double check compliance.
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