Serving a person under 21 is a big deal for a business (and a big deal for the employee, too). How do you know if your server is serving an underage person? First off, how does anyone know that you are serving a person under 21 years old? And what happens when the VA ABC Authority “catches” your employee?
ABC Consulting can tell you that 377 businesses were caught in 2018! The VA ABC Authority hires underage buyers to try to buy alcohol from restaurants and retail locations. These teens do not wear makeup to make them look over 21. They cannot say they’re 21 (so they cannot lie). They even tell their true age if asked. All it takes is a sale (regardless if you ID or not) ….BOOM! You’re caught. This underage “Agent” (yes, they are VA ABC Authority employees) must be with an ABC Special Agent that can/will immediately issue a summons to the server and/or the business. Then, the real trouble begins.
And it can all be prevented with proper training……easily.
ABC Consulting’s TOAST Academy’s training is available, online. So it can be part of your hiring process. They attend orientation and sit down at a computer and step through our course. When they finish the course, they can start serving alcohol. This process can help you have higher-quality employees, a better training program than your competition and can even help you with court costs and fines, should the unthinkable happen: getting caught serving a person under 21.
Our training gives your employee the buy in to CARE about getting caught and doing the right thing. We step through what can happen to your employee if they are CAUGHT serving a person under 21 and how much it can hurt them, personally:
- it’s a Class 1 Misdemeanor
- can result in $2,500 fines
- can result in 12 months in jail
- will cause them to lose work hours from court time
- will give them a CRIMINAL record, for the rest of their lives
All of these consequences from being lazy and/or untrained. Those repercussions are for your employee. Training will help them care. But why should YOU, the business owner care?

- You the business owner need to understand your repercussions:
- You’ll have a VA ABC Authority Hearing, heavy fines and you can have your license suspended or revoked.
- There can even be civil penalties against the establishment.
The better and cheaper (and easier) way to keep you both out of jail and out of trouble with VA ABC Authority only costs $29.95!
And when your employees have quality training and knowledge – it is powerful. Their confidence grows and they become a higher-quality employee, to you. All for $29.95! Start training!
How can we help? : 800.785.0161
*Disclaimer: The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this site are for general informational purposes only. Information on this website may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information. This website contains links to other third-party websites. Such links are only for the convenience of the reader, user, or browser; ABC Consulting VA, LLC does not recommend or endorse the contents of the third-party sites. Readers of this website should contact their attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular legal matter. No reader, user, or browser of this site should act or refrain from acting on the basis of information on this site without first seeking legal advice from counsel in the relevant jurisdiction. Only your individual attorney can provide assurances that the information contained herein – and your interpretation of it – is applicable or appropriate to your particular situation. The views expressed at, or through, this site are those of the individual authors’ writing in their individual capacities only. All liability with respect to actions taken or not taken, based on the contents of this site, are hereby expressly disclaimed. The content on this posting is provided “as is;” no representations are made that the content is error-free. In no capacity do we represent the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority, IRS, SCC or any other government agency.