California
A staff of mine has a son who is 20 and wants to work as a barback at our bar. Barbacks basically takes glassware away, cleans, etc. They wont be making drinks but might pour an occasional beer to help out. Is it legal for them to work or they have to be 21?
It is a restaurant with a hard liquor license.
however, when he is working the kitchen might not be open.
What if he just goes around picking up glasses, more like a busboy not a bar back. We need help with clearing glasses around the bar.
Did you read the information provided in the links, especially the information from the California Restaurant Association?
The law seemed to be pretty clear to me.
Oh, just read it. The guy is 20years old almost 21. My entire place is a restaurant/bar so sounds like it is ok? I might not even have him go near the bar other than to collect trash.
The B&P code forbids a person under 21 from working in a facility that serves alcohol PERIOD END OF STORY. It matters not if he is a bar back or you want to call him a bus boy or you want to call him kitchen help. He is NOT permitted to work there. He even picks up an half empty glass clearing the table he has committed a crime. Just being there is ILLEGAL on the part of the establishement.
The ONLY exception for allowing those under 21 to work there is if they are performing musicians. They still can not handle or otherwise be in any constructive possession of alcohol.
The only provision for those under 21 to work is if you were an off-sale premise (i.e., a liquor store where people don't consume on site). Even then he must work under strict supervision of an over 21 person.
No matter how you weasel this, the answer is hte same. You're risking your LIQUOR LICENSE, the adult supervisors on the premisies are risking misdemeanor charges, as is the under 21 person.
He'll have to wait until his birthday.
What you wrote is incorrect, FlyingRon.
It sounds like better to avoid the headache... i do remember a friend who did it before and she was under 21. She said as long she didn't pour that it was ok.
The B&P code forbids a person under 21 from working in a facility that serves alcohol PERIOD END OF STORY. It matters not if he is a bar back or you want to call him a bus boy or you want to call him kitchen help. He is NOT permitted to work there. He even picks up an half empty glass clearing the table he has committed a crime. Just being there is ILLEGAL on the part of the establishement.
The ONLY exception for allowing those under 21 to work there is if they are performing musicians. They still can not handle or otherwise be in any constructive possession of alcohol.
The only provision for those under 21 to work is if you were an off-sale premise (i.e., a liquor store where people don't consume on site). Even then he must work under strict supervision of an over 21 person.
No matter how you weasel this, the answer is hte same. You're risking your LIQUOR LICENSE, the adult supervisors on the premisies are risking misdemeanor charges, as is the under 21 person.
He'll have to wait until his birthday.
That's why I was asking for the type of liquor license as that will also tell us what kind of facility it is. https://www.abc.ca.gov/forms/abc616.pdf
If this is a restaurant, then the 20 year old can work there. If not, then probably not.
It's apparently a bar that serves food some of the time. The 20-year-old will be working there primarily when the kitchen is closed (i.e., when the bar is not serving food).