Tough Sell: The Perils of Serving Alcohol
Restaurant chain operators overcome the obstacles that have arisen with training employees on responsible beverage service.
By David Farkas, Senior Editor -- Chain Leader, 1/30/2009 8:45:00 AM
| Responsible Beverage Service Courses |
| The following alcohol service training programs (most online) boast they meet state certification requirements. If in doubt, check with your state restaurant association. |
| Learn2serve |
| ServSafe Alcohol |
| Serving Alcohol.com |
| Server Certification Corp. |
| Team Coalition |
| TIPS: Training for Intervention ProcedureS |
In December, in a unit of a Pittsburgh chain called Atria's Restaurant & Tavern, a woman had one too many drinks and made a scene. A manager told her she couldn't leave the restaurant in her car. "When we said that, she behaved," recalls CEO Pat McDonnell. "Often you don't get that from males."
Indeed. Last May, as Naples, Fla., police charged him with disorderly intoxication, Ben Michael Crowther protested that he was only "giving the ladies compliments." Frightened Hooters employees didn't see it that way and summoned the cops. "The staff did exactly as they were supposed to do," says General Manager David Thayer. "We don't want to put employees in a bad situation."
Anyone who serves alcohol knows these examples are not rare; they are, unfortunately, common in licensed venues. As a result, restaurant chains typically train their front-of-the-house staffs, from bussers to bartenders, to deal with these situations.
Yet today, the experts say, teaching responsible alcohol beverage service, which involves much more than dealing with plastered patrons, is an increasingly complicated issue.
Prejudiced Against Alcohol
One difficulty is arising after two decades of anti-drinking-and-driving efforts on the part of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Students Against Drunk Driving and other like-minded advocacy groups. Hospitality experts contend these organizations, by advocating for reductions in blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels, have convinced a generation of young workers that alcoholic beverage consumption is dangerous and may lead to car crashes or other forms of violence. About 13,000 people die each year in alcohol-related auto accidents, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
In turn, responsible service programs are particularly attuned to dram shop laws--on the books in 43 states--and liability issues that apply to service of alcohol. A cop, for example, narrates the portion of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation's ServSafe Alcohol training video dedicated to the subject. Violate the law, he ominously notes, and you could wind up being fined or even imprisoned.
"The kids entering the workforce at a chain that serves alcohol are scared to death of the product, and not just because they've been told it's a dangerous drug their whole lives," declares Denver-based restaurant consultant Tim Kirkland, former Rock Bottom director of beverage and author of Renegade Hospitality. "But because on their first day of training they're told they could be put in jail or fined for serving it."
Kirkland, who doesn't deny the importance of sharing facts about dram shop and liability issues, suggests that restaurants blend legal information with an appreciation of how spirits, wine and beer play a role in dining. "If employees feel empowered at the table, they will more likely do the right thing," he adds.
Abusers Themselves
Vice President of Training Kat Cole of Atlanta-based Hooters views the same issue from a different angle, that of the young employee who uses a fake ID in a bar the night before she comes to work. "It's confusing because you have young folks in their heyday, and they go to bars and restaurants and they see one type of behavior," she says, "and then they come to our restaurant and we are saying, 'That's not supposed to happen.'"
To Cole, then, it's imperative that Hooters "clearly communicate the laws" surrounding underage drinking and over-serving customers. She believes the best way to do that is online. "Online instruction makes it more accessible and it is more cost-effective than ever," contends Cole. "There's really no excuse for your employees not to have access to this kind of training, even if your business doesn't have a training department."
Seasons 52, Red Lobster and Bahama Breeze restaurants, which all employ the same in-house alcohol training, schools new hires using a customized program that employees access via POS machines. "As opposed to holding classes and someone not showing up, and managers not having time later for those who didn't bother coming to class," says Seasons 52 Director of Beverage and Hospitality George Miliotes, who is convinced this method is key to retention.
Kirkland estimates that "really good" companies spend up to $50 per employee per year for responsible service programs. The cost of ServSafe Alcohol is a bargain at $22. The certification is good for three years per employee.
| AUDIO EXTRA: Training Experts on Alcohol Service |
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Hooters' Vice President of Training Kat Cole discusses the benefits of online training and testing, and ongoing education at the units beyond formal training. |
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How do you cut a drunk off in a restaurant without a scene? Season's 52 Director of Beverage Hospitality George Miliotes, explains. |
Liability Pressures
Whatever the training cost may be, it is likely significantly less than a liability judgment. Atria's, which pays $15,000 a year for liquor liability insurance, was sued years ago after an intoxicated patron injured a third party in a car crash. Although the chain's insurance settled the claim, Donnelly insists his business was also a victim. "We have records of what we served that individual, and it would not have made them intoxicated. It didn't matter," he sighs.
There's the rub. Another hurdle that restaurants face is teaching front-of-the-house employees to recognize not merely the difference between a sober and inebriated customer, but one whose BAC has reached .08--the legal driving limit for sobriety in every state--and therefore must be cut off.
Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Senior Vice President of Training Susie Southgate-Fox says the Chicago-based multiconcept operator uses videos to teach front-of-the-house staff about the physiological stages of intoxication. "You have to look at what they are drinking. At three drinks, a light bulb should go off," she explains.
How to observe behavior and count drinks are taught in all beverage training courses, experts say. But not everyone agrees it's an effective method. "The biggest gray area is with the professional drinker," Donnelly says. "It is very difficult to tell they are drunk."
Former Arizona State Liquor Control investigative officer M. Randy Durnal, who's now an expert witness in dram shop cases, agrees. "You don't see the intoxication all the time," he says. Yet Durnal, who insists bartenders and servers count drinks, still thinks there's plenty of room for improvement in training programs.
"Look, at least have a policy and a procedure in place to stop someone before they reach .08," he says. "The biggest problem is [restaurants] do not go far enough in cutting someone off." Asked why restaurants do not do so, Durnal exclaims, "Money! I want to make money!"
It's more complicated than that. "We really don't want to put anyone on the road who's drunk," Cole insists. "Why would anyone want that kind of trouble?" Like Donnelly, she says the challenge is training people to spot high BAC levels in drinkers who do not exhibit any change in behavior and therefore raise no suspicion.
Train with Experts
Experts advise restaurant chains to retain an accredited third-party provider to train their staff if they cannot develop a program in-house. "Some companies are really top drawer," says Tampa, Fla.-based attorney Richard Blau, who has defended restaurants in dram shop cases. "They use interactive training and have excellent record keeping. They have the kind of personnel that if you wind up going to court, they are there for you."
Kirkland seconds that plan, adding that chains should ensure that front-of-the-house managers are certified as alcohol beverage trainers. "If you have the guy running the shift who teaches responsible service, people are constantly aware of it," he says.
Training also serves as protection. Kirkland says chains that can show 80 percent of its staff has gone through accredited training may catch a break. "I went to liquor board hearings where penalties were mitigated by that fact," he recalls.
Cut-Off Point
The best way to avoid legal problems is not to let anyone get drunk in the first place, which, as Durnal says, means not letting customers reach.08. Or, in effect, cutting them off. Nearly all beverage training teaches staffers to let managers handle that delicate task.
"Managers should be making runs through the bar so they are available to team members," Miliotes says. "If a person is over the limit, there's no wiggle room."
Defining that limit can be tough for some chains. "How do you define BAC without an accurate device in a restaurant at all times," wonders Cole. "There are certainly indicators that would lead one to believe BAC is in a certain range, but until states require a breathalyzer, you are not going to truly prevent intoxication."
At least not without help from law enforcement, argues Alexander C. Wagenaar, a health policy professor at the University of Florida in Gainesville, who has studied the results of bar alcohol beverage training on BAC levels. "Training alone has very modest effects and little effect on intoxication levels if it is not done in the context of improved regulatory policies and enhanced enforcement," he says.
In other words, the threat of police arrest, the result of a roadblock or random patrol, can also keep customers sober and alive.
| Resources and Reading |
| Training requirements for responsible alcohol service vary from state to state, and may include additional supplements. Know your state's requirements. |
| What if a device in the restaurant could take the worry out of liquor liability? |
| The Beverage Alcohol Resource certification program aims to turn ambitious bartenders into master mixologists in five days. |
| Case Study: Houlihan's upgrades to a third-party provider for responsible alcohol-service training. |
| Minors can drink alcohol in a bar or restaurant in Wisconsin if they are accompanied by a parent or legal guardian who gives consent. Some have a problem with that. |
| Research: A randomized trial to evaluate a management training program to prevent illegal alcohol sales. |
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