The Manager’s Checklist: 4 Ways to Keep Your Team TAM Card® Compliant

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Managing a bar or restaurant is a lot of work, and keeping track of your team’s alcohol training is a crucial part of that. In southern Nevada, every employee who serves, sells, or checks IDs for alcohol needs a valid TAM Card® or alcohol awareness card. Missing even one expired ID could lead to costly fines or trouble for your business. Here are four common compliance pitfalls managers run into—and how you can easily avoid them.

Pitfall 1: Assuming Out-of-State Cards Count

Many new hires move to Las Vegas with alcohol server cards from other states like California or Texas. However, Nevada laws are unique, and out-of-state certifications are not here. To stay fully compliant, any new employee must complete an approved Nevada alcohol awareness program and earn an official card. TAM of Nevada is approved by the Nevada Commission of Postsecondary Education to offer alcohol awareness training and is the only provider of official TAM Cards in Nevada.

Pitfall 2: Confusing TAM Cards with Food Handler Card

It is easy to mix up an alcohol awareness card with a food handler card (also known as a Health Card) but these are two entirely different requirements issued by different agencies. The Southern Nevada Health District issues food handler cards, which are required for kitchen staff, servers, managers, and anyone who comes into contact with food, ice, beverages, or utensils. Because many front-of-house roles require staff to handle both drinks and food items, these employees must hold both an alcohol awareness card and a food handler card to legally work. If you’re not sure which roles require which cards, our friendly staff can answer your questions and help point you in the right direction.

Pitfall 3: Relying on a “Grace Period” for New Hires

Some managers believe new employees have several weeks to get certified after starting work. In reality, servers should have their alcohol awareness training completed before they ever handle alcohol on the floor. Allowing uncertified staff to serve drink orders right away puts your business at immediate risk. TAM of Nevada offers online training available 24/7 to ensure your staff is able to get certified ASAP.

Pitfall 4: Forgetting the Four-Year Expiration Date

Alcohol awareness cards in Nevada expire four years from the date they are issued. Busy shift schedules make it easy to forget these dates until a surprise audit happens. This is why it is important to be proactive and keep track of your staff’s alcohol awareness training expiration dates. We can confirm the expiration dates for official TAM Cards issued by our office.

Keeping your team compliant doesn’t have to be a headache. Contact TAM of Nevada today to get help keeping your staff’s mandatory TAM training up to date. We also offer convenient group training where our team comes directly to your location to train your whole staff and issue official alcohol awareness cards on site! Reach out today at [email protected] or 702-545-6664 to schedule an on-site class and get your team compliant with alcohol awareness training requirements.

TAM Office Closure Dates for July Fourth Weekend

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Please see below for our holiday office hours. Our office will be closed July 3-July 5, and will re-open for normal business hours on Monday, July 6.

The online TAM course is still available 24/7 at http://www.tamnevda.com!

  • Friday, July 3rd – Office Closed
  • Saturday, July 4th – Office Closed
  • Sunday, July 5th – Office Closed
  • Monday, July 6th – Reopen for normal business hours 8:30am-5:00pm

Share Your Experience: TAM® Alcohol Awareness Survey

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Congratulations to Skyler L. of Henderson, winner of our most recent quarterly gift card giveaway!

Have you recently finished an alcohol awareness class with TAM® of Nevada? If so, we’d like to hear from you. Here at the TAM® office, we look to our customers their feedback on our business – from start to finish.  As a token of thanks, we enter all our survey respondents into a quarterly drawing for a $25 Amazon.com gift card prize.

If you’ve recently completed your TAM® course, please access the survey and send your response before our next drawing. Let us know your favorite part of the training, what you’ve learned, or your experiences with staff. You can also use the survey to ask us any questions you have.

Thank you again for choosing TAM for your alcohol awareness training. Remember to visit TAM of Nevada on Facebook and keep the conversation going.

Make Alcohol Awareness Month Count: Why Your TAM Card Training Matters

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Every day, almost 40 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. This amounts to one death every 50 minutes (NHTSA). As a TAM Card® holder, you can do your part to help reduce that number. You have the skills to promote safe beverage service and reduce the chances that someone will be over served and get behind the wheel.

At TAM® of Nevada, we like to promote responsible service year-round. Spread the message that April is Alcohol Awareness Month, and this is a great opportunity to further reflect on safe service choices and showcase your training.

This month we encourage you to visit our website or our office to renew or obtain your official TAM Card. Our alcohol awareness course is available online 24/7, and our friendly staff is in the office six days a week to issue TAM Cards. Additional events in April include:

  • Final exams are offered at our Las Vegas office and several other locations across Nevada. View our exam schedule to find the option that works best for you.
  • In-person class is offered in our Las Vegas office every Wednesday and Saturday morning. Walk-ins are welcome, but we encourage you to email or text us to reserve your spot in one of our classes.

How will you promote safe choices this April?