Current through September 24, 2024
(1) Clerk
Applicants with Special Needs. Persons with special needs must contact the
certified program at least seven (7) calendar days in advance of the training
date to request specific assistance in completing that program. Notwithstanding
any other provision of these rules, the certified program shall endeavor to
provide reasonable accommodations when requested on a case by case basis in
compliance with state and federal law.
(2)
(a)
Within ten (10) calendar days of the training date, the responsible beer vendor
training program must submit to the responsible beer vendor a list of all
clerks who successfully completed the training program and received a
certificate of completion. Responsible training beer vendor programs shall
maintain records of those successfully completing the training program for a
period of at least three years to be available for the Commission to
review.
(b)
(i) If a responsible beer vendor owns and
operates several locations (operating under the same business name and
corporate name) and is using the same responsible beer vendor program for each
location, then clerks and/or employees attending a responsible beer vendor
program may-upon the initial training course-designate the various locations
within the same responsible beer vendor's operation. The successful completion
of the training course will be sufficient for training requirements at each
designated location. This option does not apply to individuals working at
responsible beer vendor locations owned by different entities. The responsible
beer vendor training program will issue a certificate to the clerk/employee for
each location designated at the time of the class.
(ii) For the purposes of certification costs,
employees described in the above paragraph will be counted as an employee for
each location.
(iii) For clerks
desiring to add new responsible beer vendor locations under the same ownership
after the initial designation, then new training must occur for each
location.
(3)
(a) Within twenty-one (21) calendar days of
the training date, the responsible beer vendor must submit to the Commission a
list of all clerks who have successfully completed the training program and
received a certificate of completion. Such list shall on be submitted on forms
prescribed by the Commission.
(b)
If the certified program and responsible beer vendor are the same entity (i.e.,
if the responsible beer vendor has an in-house certified program), then a
single notification to the Commission is sufficient.
(4) Commission Training Program. To further
implement the policy and standards of the Tennessee Responsible Vendor Act of
2006, the Commission may conduct its own training program for clerks. The cost
to each clerk in attendance for this training program will be $35.00. While
attendance at a responsible beer vendor program for alcohol awareness is
required for any clerk working at a responsible beer vendor location, it is not
necessary that such clerk attend the Commission program.
(5) Each responsible beer vendor shall
maintain and have available for review by Commission representatives'
employment and training records for all clerks. Such documentation shall
include, but is not limited to, the following information for each clerk:
(a) Name, address, and social security
number;
(b) Date of hire;
(c) Date of training by certified responsible
beer vendor program;
(d) Date of
required annual training related to updated information, policies and
procedures.
(6) Loss of
Clerk Certification.
(a) A certified clerk
shall lose their certification under the following circumstances:
1. If the beer board determines that the
clerk sold alcoholic beverages to a minor. The clerk shall lose their
certification for a period of one year beginning on the date of the beer
board's determination; or
2. If the
clerk receives a criminal conviction of a charge involving the sale of
alcoholic beverages to a minor. The clerk shall lose their certification
beginning on the date of the conviction, and is further subject to the
provisions of T.C.A. §
57-5-301(a)(1);
or
3. Certified clerks must
annually attend a meeting regarding updated statutory information as required
by T.C.A. §
57-5-601 et seq. This annual
meeting shall be held for all clerks within the last quarter of each calendar
year. Within twenty-one days after the annual training, the responsible beer
vendor shall notify the Commission in writing if the certified clerk has not
attended the annual meeting regarding updated statutory information as required
by T.C.A. §
57-5-601 et seq. Upon such
notification by the responsible beer vendor to the Commission, the
certification for identified clerk shall immediately become invalid. Such clerk
shall not work in a capacity to sell beer directly to consumers for off-premise
consumption until the clerk has received the required updated training;
or
4. If the clerk has not attended
at least one annual meeting by the time set forth in these rules and received
updated information disseminated by the responsible beer vendor.
(b) If a clerk loses their
certification but continues to work as a clerk and subsequently, sells beer to
an under-aged individual, then the responsible beer vendor shall not be
considered a responsible beer vendor for the purposes of disciplinary action
taken by a beer board.
(7) Name Badge. Each certified clerk is
required to wear a name badge issued by the responsible beer vendor. Such name
badge shall contain the clerk's legal first name, or "given name," but may omit
the clerk's last name, or family name, and must be clearly visible to the
general public.
(8) Grace Period.
(a) Clerks have sixty-one (61) calendar days
from their date of hire as a clerk to successfully complete responsible beer
vendor training. During this 61 day grace period, if a sale to a minor takes
place the Responsible Beer Vendor is treated as having responsible beer vendor
status. Any criminal action against the clerk is not affected. If clerks have
not received the appropriate training within 61 calendar days of their date of
hire, then the responsible beer vendor temporarily loses its status as a
responsible beer vendor immediately at the conclusion of the 61 calendar day
period. However, if the situation is corrected within thirty (30) calendar
days, then upon payment of a civil penalty to the Commission, the status of
"responsible beer vendor" may be re-instated. If training does not occur to
remedy the situation within thirty (30) calendar days, then the responsible
beer vendor status is considered expired and the vendor permanently loses its
status as a responsible beer vendor, and a new application must be submitted
and training must re-occur.
(b) In
scenario above, should a beer permittee be subject to disciplinary action by a
local beer board for a violation involving the sale of alcoholic beverages to a
minor, the Commission will, upon request, advise the beer board that the
permittee is not a responsible beer vendor because all employees have not
received adequate training in a timely manner.
(c) If a clerk who is not eligible to
participate in the responsible beer vendor program (i.e., if the clerk is under
the age of eighteen) sells alcohol to a minor, then the responsible beer vendor
loses its status as a responsible beer vendor and is subject to the discretion
of the local beer board as it relates to disciplinary action against the beer
permit.
(d) Upon request, the
Commission will issue an affidavit, signed by appropriate personnel, to certify
the status of a clerk or responsible beer vendor. This affidavit will be
sufficient in lieu of in-person testimony by a Commission representative before
a local beer board.
(9)
Refusal of Cooperation. Any certified clerk, responsible beer vendor program,
responsible beer vendor, its agent, or employee, who refuses to open or
disclose its records to, or furnish information to, or who furnishes false
and/or misleading information to a TABC special agent, regulatory officer or
any representative of the Commission upon any matter directly and/or indirectly
relating to the responsible beer vendor program, certification, employees,
etc., shall subject the certification and participation in the responsible beer
vendor program to suspension and/or revocation.
(10) Beer Boards and Local Law Enforcement.
Communication between city and/or county beer boards, local law enforcement and
the Commission is vital for the success of the Responsible Beer Vendor program.
(a) When a vendor appears before a city or
county beer board for an administrative charge of the sale of alcohol to a
minor, the Commission will either:
1. Verify
the vendor and/or clerk who sold the alcohol to a minor are certified and are
eligible for mitigation in disciplinary action according to the statute;
or
2. Verify such vendor and/or
clerk have not been certified, and are not eligible for mitigation in
disciplinary actions by the regulating beer board.
(b) Local beer boards should notify the
Commission when disciplinary actions involving the sale of alcoholic beverages
to a minor have been taken against an off-premise beer permittee within 15 days
of such action.
(c) If a beer
permittee represents to a city or county beer board that they are a responsible
beer vendor but are not, then the city or county beer board should notify the
Commission of such misrepresentation. Such beer permittee shall be ineligible
to participate in the responsible beer vendor program for a period of three (3)
years from the date of misrepresentation.
(d) Local law enforcement should notify the
Commission when an employee of an off - premise beer permittee has been
criminally convicted of a charge involving the sale of alcoholic beverages to a
minor.
(11) Notice of
training sessions. The Commission must be notified seven (7) calendar days in
advance of any training if the training will be conducted by an individual(s)
at a location where clerks will be present. The notice must include the name of
the training program, the instructor, the complete address of the training
site, and the time and location of the training.
(12) To obtain the benefits associated with
being a certified responsible beer vendor, the beer permittee must actually be
certified by the Commission as a responsible beer vendor at the time of the
offense. Any application for certification as a responsible beer vendor
submitted to the Commission with charges/offenses pending before the local beer
board will not be reviewed until such charges/offenses are concluded: the
approval or denial of the responsible beer vendor application will be made once
the Commission has received notification of the result of the pending
charges/offenses.
(13) Once the
Commission receives notification of a second offense sale of alcohol to a minor
within a twelve month period, then the Commission shall revoke the responsible
beer vendor's certification as a responsible beer vendor for a period of three
years. Subsequent sales of alcohol to minors by the beer permittee do not
receive protection under the responsible beer vendor training
provisions.
Authority: T.C.A. §
57-5-605(b).
