Alcohol servers and managers across the Palmetto State have been granted a reprieve to complete mandatory state training. On Monday, the Governor signed Joint Resolution 5261, officially extending the compliance deadline to May 1, 2026.
The extension follows a March 4 Senate approval aimed at giving the hospitality industry more time to align with updated state codes. According to the South Carolina Department of Revenue (SCDOR), nearly 40,000 workers had already secured their certificates as of earlier this week, but thousands more remain in need of certification.
Under South Carolina law, training is compulsory for:
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Servers: Any individual working 10 or more hours per week serving alcohol for on-premises consumption.
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Management: All managers who oversee the service of alcohol.
State officials emphasize that businesses face significant financial consequences for failing to meet the new deadline. The penalty for allowing an untrained staff member to serve alcohol is $500 per violation. Furthermore, businesses can be fined $100 for failing to maintain or produce a copy of a worker’s certificate upon request.
Servers must keep a physical or digital copy of their certificate on hand while working. Likewise, licensees are required to retain copies for every server throughout their term of employment. Certificates typically become available for download on the SCDOR website within two weeks of course completion.
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