June 2022

General Program Update

We are less than one month away from RBS training and certification for on-premises alcohol servers and their managers becoming mandatory. The Department has been working diligently on making sure that our licensees, servers, and community partners are aware of the new law and are working to promote training and certification information to those who need to be RBS trained and certified by the August 31, 2022 deadline. The Department has developed our informational multi-language flyer on the RBS requirements.

RBS training and certification is a three-step process:

1. Register with ABC as an alcohol server (this includes the managers of alcohol servers) on the RBS Portal.
2. Take RBS training from an ABC Approved Training Provider.
3. Take our alcohol server certification exam on the RBS Portal.

The exam is currently available in English, Spanish, and Korean languages. The Department is in the process of making the exam available in Chinese, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Hindi, and Punjabi.

RBS Training Offered in Languages other than English and Spanish

The RBSTP is still accepting and processing RBS training provider applications. If minimal to no edits are required, the estimated time for approval is 8-12 weeks. Foreign language course approvals can take longer. We are currently in the process of approving online programs in Mandarin, Cantonese, and Korean. We are looking to provide additional RBS Courses both online and in-person for non-English language servers. Persons and parties interested in becoming a Department authorized RBS training provider may contact rbstp@abc.ca.gov for more information.

To date, we have 40,087 alcohol servers trained and certified in RBS. We also have 44 approved training providers and RBS programs (30 online, 13 in-person, 1 in-house, 3 foreign language: Spanish).

Frequently Asked Questions

 The Responsible Beverage Service Training Program (RBSTP) has updated our RBS frequently asked questions as a way to better acquaint our valued stakeholders and community partners with the requirements for RBS training and certifications. Please take time to review our updated response to our frequently asked questions.

ABC’s Online Services are Now Available!

The Department is mailing out letters to licensees announcing the release of ABC’s online services. The letters include information on how to create license administrator accounts and provides licensees with a validation code for their license number. Please see our license administrator frequently asked questions for more specific details.

Online Licensing Services Statistics

ABC launched online licensing services on September 22, 2021, with the ability to make online license renewal payments. We have expanded licensing services to now provide the services essential to RBS training and certification. To date, we have successfully processed 10,282 ABC license renewal payments.

Need Assistance with RBS or Online Licensing Services?

Servers and Licensees are encouraged to contact their local district office for assistance.

Contact

For alcohol server registration assistance or general assistance with RBS contact:

Online Services
Phone: (916) 318-6435
Email: onlineservices@abc.ca.gov

Translation Services
Email: eeo@abc.ca.gov

For training provider assistance or questions about RBS requirements contact:

RBSTP Team
3927 Lennane Drive, Suite 100
Sacramento, CA 95834
Email: rbstp@abc.ca.gov