As a server of alcohol, you play a key role in managing alcohol consumption by your patrons.  You can help keep customers from becoming intoxicated and help prevent youth from obtaining alcohol.  Both of these play a major role in reducing the risk of alcohol-related incidents and liability.

By the end of this training, you should be able to distinguish between legal duties, house duties, and professional duties.  You are required by law to follow legal duties and by your management to follow house duties.  You decide which professional duties you will follow because you feel something is ethically or socially important.

This training will provide you with the tools needed to help you serve alcohol responsibly.  You will learn how to recognize visible signs of alcohol impairment, ways to refuse service to a patron and how to spot a fraudulent form of identification (ID).

This online server/seller training is one of four program prerequisites of the Responsible Alcohol Management Program (RAMP).

What is RAMP Certification?

RAMP Certification consists of four program prerequisites, that upon successful completion, enables licensees to apply for RAMP Certification which is then approved by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB).  Completion of the program provides certification to the licensed establishment for two years.

RAMP certification is voluntary for many licensees but it can be mandatory under the following circumstances:

• For any licensee who has been found guilty by an Administrative Law Judge of sales to minors or visibly intoxicated persons.
• As part of a conditional licensing agreement (CLA).
• Prior to obtaining a wine expanded permit.

There are four prerequisites of RAMP certification which include: Owner/Manager Training, Server/Seller Training, New Employee Orientation, and Signage.

1. Owner/Manager Training

The first component of RAMP certification is completion of Owner/Manager Training by an owner and/or the PLCB-approved manager, those most responsible for daily operations and determining policies for a licensed establishment. Licensees may choose to complete the Owner/Manager Training online or in a classroom setting. Classroom trainings are offered by the PLCB weekly throughout Pennsylvania.

Note: Beginning October 1, 2021, the first time an individual enrolls in Owner/Manager Training, they shall enroll and attend the Owner/Manager Training in a classroom setting.  Subsequent training may be completed in class, virtual or online.

Newly approved managers of certain license types are required to complete Owner/Manager Training within 180 days of approval of appointment by the PLCB, unless the appointed manager has successfully completed training within two years prior to being appointed a manager. Furthermore, the PLCB-approved manager must renew Owner/Manager Training every two years.

2. Server/Seller Training

This component is the focus of this online training.  In order to fulfill this requirement, at least 50 percent of the licensee’s alcohol service staff – including anyone who serves or sells alcohol and/or checks IDs, as well as owners or managers who perform these duties – must complete this training before RAMP certification can be granted.  This percentage must be maintained at all times. Upon completion of the course, trainees are required to complete a course examination and receive a score of 80 percent or better in order to receive credit for this course.  Training is valid for two years.

Licensees may choose to attend classroom training conducted by a PLCB-approved instructor or complete an online training course offered by a PLCB-approved provider. A list of approved trainers and online providers is available on the PLCB’s website.  The list changes periodically, so please make sure you have an up-to-date list before scheduling training. Classroom trainings open to the public can be found in PLCB+.

Although server/seller training is one component of RAMP certification, this training by itself is also mandatory for:

• All staff serving alcohol at an off-premises catering event.
• All cashiers selling wine at an establishment with a wine expanded permit.
• All new alcohol service personnel hired on or after August 8, 2016 who are not RAMP-trained must be so w/in six months of being hired and be re-trained before their current training expires.
• All new alcohol service personnel hired on or after August 8, 2016 who are already RAMP-trained must be re-trained before their current training expires.
• All employees hired before August 8, 2016 who are not RAMP-trained but transfer into an alcohol service position on or after August 8, 2016 need to obtain RAMP-training w/in six months of assuming their new duties.

3. New Employee Orientation

The third component consists of orientation for all members of the alcohol service staff. Licensees are required to conduct a new employee orientation within 30 days of employee’s hire. The PLCB will provide the orientation form and appropriate learning materials.  It is the sole responsibility of the licensee to ensure that an owner, manager or a designated instructor conducts the orientation. Licensees shall maintain these records for all employees for the duration of their employment.

4. Signage

The fourth component consists of displaying posters or signs regarding responsible alcohol service. Appropriate signage is available from the PLCB. However, the licensee may use other signage, providing that it is equivalent in size, number, and content of the PLCB’s signage. Signage must be prominently displayed so that it can be easily observed by patrons.  Licensees shall be responsible for posting and maintaining the signage at all times.

Signage must include, at a minimum the following information:

1. Acceptable forms of ID; and
2. Refusal of alcohol service to minors and visibly intoxicated patrons.

Apply for RAMP Certification – After successful completion of the four program prerequisites, the licensee must apply for RAMP Certification in PLCB+. Licensee will receive certification providing all requirements are met.

Maintaining Compliance

Once an establishment has become RAMP-certified, it’s up to management to maintain compliance by observing the following:

• If the owner or manager who completed the Owner/Manager Training changes, the new (or another) owner or manager has 60 days to complete training.
• If the number of server/seller-trained employees falls below 50 percent, additional employees must be trained within 60 days.
• New employee orientation must be completed within 30 days of the employee’s hire date (it is recommended that the orientation be completed on or before the first day of employment as a member of the licensee’s alcohol service staff).
• All new employees must be added to the alcohol service staff roster.
• The licensee must maintain posting of signs at all times.

Note:  Failure to maintain these guidelines may void the establishment’s certification.

Benefits To The Licensee Include:

• Knowledgeable, well-trained alcohol service staff and management.
• Recognition as a responsible licensee in your community.
• Possible liquor liability insurance discount.
• Less likelihood of dram shop liability.
• Possible reduction in the fines and penalties issued by an Administrative Law Judge to the licensee for serving a minor or a visibly intoxicated patron, as long as the licensee was in compliance at the time of the violation and had no citations for either of those two violations in the previous four years.

LIABILITY CONCERNS

Administrative Liability

The Pennsylvania Liquor Code makes it illegal for licensees, or their servants, agents or employees, to serve alcoholic beverages to visibly intoxicated patrons (VIPs) and minors.  Violations of that law by licensees may result in fines from $1,000 to $5,000 (unless, at the time of the sale, the licensee was RAMP certified and had not sold to VIPs or minors in the previous 4 years, then the licensee’s fine would be from $50 to $1,000); suspension or revocation of the liquor license; and mandated RAMP certification.

This is often referred to as “strict liability” because licensees are always responsible for the actions of their employees – even when the licensee is absent.

Criminal Liability

There are two different ways a person could be fined criminally, under the Pennsylvania Liquor Code and under the Pennsylvania Crimes Code.

1. The Pennsylvania Liquor Code
   • If a licensee or employee sells to a visibly intoxicated person or minor, he/she could be fined up to $5,000 and/or be imprisoned from 3 months to 1 year.

• Any other person who violates any provision of Article IV of the Liquor Code commits a misdemeanor and could be fined from $100 to $500.

1. Pennsylvania Crimes Code

• People who sell or furnish alcohol to minors can also be prosecuted criminally under the Pennsylvania Crimes Code. Anyone convicted of willfully and knowingly selling or furnishing alcoholic beverages to a minor faces a minimum fine of $1,000 for the first offense and $2,500 for each subsequent offense, as well as a possible jail term of up to one year for each offense.

Civil Liability

“Dram shop” is a legal term in the United States referring to a bar, tavern or the like where alcoholic beverages are sold. Traditionally, it referred to a shop where spirits were sold by the dram, a small unit of liquid.

“Dram shop liability” refers to the body of law governing the liability of taverns, liquor stores and other commercial establishments that serve alcoholic beverages. Generally, dram shop laws establish the liability of establishments arising out of the sale of alcohol to visibly intoxicated persons or minors who subsequently cause death or injury to third-parties (those not having a relationship to the bar) as a result of alcohol-related car crashes and other accidents.

Dram shop liability is commonly called third-party liability because the lawsuit involves three parties:

• 1st party is the licensee and/or server
• 2nd party is the minor and/or intoxicated patron
• 3rd party is the victim

Dram shop cases have resulted in verdicts awarding substantial amounts of money to those parties involved.  Violators have been successfully sued for everything they own, including their businesses, houses and other personal property.  The Liquor Code provides that no licensee shall be liable to third parties on account of damages inflicted upon them off of the licensed premises by customers of the licensee unless that customer was sold, furnished or given alcohol by the licensee or its servants, agents or employees, when that customer was visibly intoxicated.