California RBS Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to most common questions here.
General Questions
Yes, effective July 1, 2022, RBS training is required by CA Assembly Bill 1221 and Assembly Bill 82 for on-premises alcoholic beverage servers and their managers. The regulations have been incorporated into the California Code of Regulations, Title 4, Article 25, Sections 160-173.
On-premises licenses, as they pertain to RBS, generally include on-sale licenses and other license types that include on-site alcohol consumption, such as bars, restaurants, tasting rooms, clubs, stadiums, movie theaters, hotels, and caterers.
The following license types are subject to RBS requirements: Type 1, 2, 3, 4, 23, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 80, 83, 86, 87, 88, 90, 99.
Responsible Beverage Service (RBS) training is a mandatory program which 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.
Licensee Education on Alcohol and Drugs (LEAD) is ABC’s free voluntary prevention and education program for employees and licensees of off-sale locations such as liquor stores, convenience stores, and gas stations. LEAD provides practical information on selling alcoholic beverages safely, responsibly, and legally, and preventing illicit drug activity on or around their licensed establishment.
Although some local governments currently require alcohol servers working in their jurisdictions to attend a LEAD course, the ABC LEAD program does not fulfill the requirements mandated by AB 1221 and does not qualify as an ABC approved RBS Training.
Yes, you are required to be RBS certified. Cities and counties may apply additional ordinances that further support the efforts of AB 1221 but cannot supersede the standards defined in the act.
Yes. All alcohol servers and managers of alcohol servers are required to complete ABC’s RBS three-step certification process. You must register in the RBS Portal, take training from an authorized RBS training provider, and pass your ABC Alcohol Server Certification Exam within 30 days of your confirmed training. It is not possible to “grandfather-in” prior certifications. To verify your certification status, log into the RBS Portal and view your status on your RBS Server dashboard.
The RBS informational multi-language flyer is available to download in multiple languages. RBS training courses are offered in English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, and Vietnamese. The exam is available in English, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Punjabi, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese. To change the language when you take the exam, select Language next to your name and choose from the available languages.
The RBS Portal can be accessed and is operational across all major browsers on several platforms and operating systems. The supported browsers are the latest versions of Microsoft Edge New, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Safari. You can access the RBS Portal by using these browsers on any operating system, including but not limited to Windows10, MacOS, iOS, and Android.
The RBS Portal can be accessed and is operational across all major browsers on several platforms and operating systems. The supported browsers are the latest versions of Microsoft Edge New, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Safari. You can access the RBS Portal by using these browsers on any operating system, including but not limited to Windows10, MacOS, iOS, and Android.
- Course Length      Self-Paced
- Certificate Type      PDF
- Certificate Valid      36 Months
- Course Access      90 Days
- Exam Questions      25 Questions
- Exam Attemptss      3x
- Passing Score      70%
- Pass Guarantee      YES
Licensee
The following license types are subject to RBS requirements: Type 1, 2, 3, 4, 23, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 80, 83, 86, 87, 88, 90, 99.
Some less common license types that require RBS certification are:
- Instruction alcohol servers for a Type 86 license. Certification is required because the server is serving an alcoholic beverage to the public for consumption on the premises. Each licensee involved in the instructional tasting must ensure their employee or agent is certified because the server at these tastings is acting as an agent of both.
- Club members or alcohol servers for a Type 50, 51, or 52 license. Anyone who pours, serves, or delivers drinks, including volunteers, must be RBS certified
- Employees of a licensed train for Type 43, 44, 45, 46, and 53 licenses. All staff who serve alcohol must be RBS certified.
- Designated employees for a Type 31, 34, or 37 license. These license types must meet the requirements for a one-day license.
- Employees who serve alcohol on-site for a business which is not licensed by ABC. There are limited exceptions to when alcohol can be served without an ABC license. Please contact your local district office to determine whether your business requires an ABC license.
Yes. If you serve alcohol for on-site consumption, you must be RBS trained and certified.
ABC is not issuing physical or downloadable RBS certificates. Once your employee completes training and passes the ABC Alcohol Server Certification Exam, their RBS certification status will be updated to Certified. With a License Administrator account, you can check their certification status by searching their Server ID number and last name as it appears in the RBS Portal.
Yes. Alcohol servers and managers have 60 days from their first date of employment to register in the RBS Portal, take training from an authorized RBS training provider, and pass the ABC Alcohol Server Certification Exam within 30 days of their confirmed training.
Yes. Alcohol servers and managers have 60 days from their date of employment to complete their RBS certification.
No. If the employee has a valid RBS certification in the RBS Portal, they do not need to get certified again. RBS certification is valid for three years and applies to the person, not a specific employer.
No, each alcohol server will need to register for their account individually.
RBS certification can only be completed online. If your employee does not have access to the Internet, you can help them find your local library
The Department cannot give guidance on this issue, and strongly recommends employees and employers consult labor attorneys that specialize in the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act and similar laws under California law which often extend protections to employees further. The time an employee is being trained may be deemed as hours worked since the training is mandatory to remain employed and directly related to an alcohol server’s employment, even if asked to be completed away from the business and not during normal working hours. In addition, certain California laws require employees to pay any costs associated for trainings required to maintain employment. This information is shared not as a mandate that employers pay for the training or compensate employees for their time to take the training, as that would be dictated by decisions by either a court of competent jurisdiction, or the Federal or State fair employment departments. You may visit the Labor and Workforce Agency website or the Labor Commissioner’s Office website for more information on job-related trainings.
Servers have three attempts within 30 days of their confirmed training. If they fail three times or do not pass the exam within 30 days, they must repay the $3 exam fee, retake training, and pass the exam.
ABC does not sell your information or distribute it to anyone outside of ABC unless required by law or necessary to process your online request. We may be required to comply with subpoenas and government orders and provide information to the extent permissible by law.
ABC will not contact you by text or email unless you have registered your email address in the RBS Portal. If a training provider contacts you, we recommend you contact them directly rather than responding to a text or email, since contact information can be spoofed. You can view the list of approved training providers on the RBS Portal.