Alcohol-service hires could get 30 days to secure a pouring permit

New alcohol-service employees in Sandy Springs, Georgia, could start work before obtaining the city’s required pouring permit under a proposal scheduled for City Council consideration Nov. 17.⁠[1]

City Attorney Dan Lee recommends giving covered workers 30 days from their hire date to obtain the permit. His Oct. 30 memorandum says the current rule requires a permit before an employee may handle, sell or serve alcohol. Staff calls that requirement burdensome for workers and employers, saying the grace period would let new hires begin without waiting for a permit.⁠[1]

The proposed deadline is to obtain the permit—not merely apply for one—within 30 days of hire. Employers would have to retain hire-date records for every employee required to hold a pouring permit and make those records available for city inspection upon request.⁠[1]

The permit requirement reaches beyond bartenders. It covers employees who dispense, sell or serve alcohol, take orders, mix drinks or hold managerial positions at businesses licensed for on-premises consumption. It also covers alcoholic-beverage caterers’ employees who handle, sell or serve alcohol; the text excludes employees whose duties are solely those of a busboy, cook or dishwasher.⁠[1]

The change would not eliminate police screening or annual renewal. Applications would still go through city police, with photographing, fingerprinting and a police-record check remaining part of the process. Permits would remain valid for one year.⁠[1]

This is a proposal, not an adopted change. The draft calls for it to take effect immediately upon adoption. Council’s Nov. 17 regular meeting is scheduled to follow its work session in the Studio Theatre at City Hall, 1 Galambos Way.⁠[1]