More About TIPS

Wherever alcohol is sold, served or consumed TIPS™ offers concrete benefits for your liquor serving establishment, sales staff and the party/event community in the Metro Detroit Michigan area. As part of our TIPS training support, we offer information on all the State of Michigan Alcohol Laws & Regulations. This breakdown of the laws and regulations governing the promotion, sale, and service of alcohol beverages, and highlights any special liability pertaining to specific states or jurisdictions is invaluable for those serving beer, wine and liquor at parties, special events and bars and even casinos. Getting your Establishment's wait-staff TIPS certified has immediate Benefits:

• Minimize property damage caused by intoxicated patrons and party guests.
• Protect your bottom line by reducing penalties for alcohol violations at your place of business
• Legal Protection - In third-party liquor liability lawsuits, TIPS provides a "reasonable efforts defense."
• Regulatory Compliance - TIPS training satisfies the requirements in most states that regulate server training.
• Insurance Discounts - Many Michigan insurance companies provide discounts to establishments whose employees are TIPS-certified.
• Enhanced Community Standing - TIPS leads the way in framing the debate about responsible alcohol service and clarifying the distinction between drinking and drunkenness.

How Liability Affects You if you’re not TIPS certified...
Whether you serve cocktails in a restaurant or bar, sell beer at a convenience or liquor store, or offer wine and other spirits in your own home, you could be held liable, or responsible, should one of your patrons, customers, guests or friends become intoxicated and cause damage to himself, others or property. Being certified in a quality alcohol service training program like the TIPS program can prevent some of the problems that result from the misuse of alcohol. BBT-Services offers TIPS responsible alcohol service training program at our offices or on-site.
TIPS® (Training for Intervention ProcedureS) is the nationwide premier education and training certification organization for those responsible for serving and selling alcoholic beverages. BBT-Services is a certified instructor for those needing TIPS certified bartenders, wait staff and counter salesmen of beer, wine and liquors to meet all Michigan liquor board requirements. TIPS® is a skills-based training program that is designed to prevent intoxication, underage drinking, and drunk driving by recognizing alcohol abusive behaviors....

Staff and Community Benefits:

• Help workers avoid serving alcohol to minors or over-serving guests or bar patrons
• Staff Professionalism - TIPS training enhances the skills of your employees who in turn offer improved service to your customers.
• Reduce human tragedy resulting from drunkenness and drunk driving.

Beware cheap alternatives to TIPS certification. Using an inadequate program to save time or money could be worse than doing nothing at all. In the event of an alcohol-related lawsuit, the fact that you made some effort toward server training would indicate to a jury that you understood the risks. But jurors may suspect that you chose to cut corners rather than seriously attempt to address those risks. Only TIPS® has the nationwide reputation to help ensure your training is effective and you get protections from the below common legal problems when serving liquor.

Civil Liability

Civil liability allows individuals to bring suit against licensees, social hosts, or companies depending on where the problem occurred. Lawsuits can be filed by innocent victims injured by an intoxicated person or by the intoxicated person himself. Juries typically award monetary damages to compensate victims (compensatory damages) and to punish the offender (punitive damages). Awards can range from a few thousand to millions of dollars.

Civil lawsuits are based on three basic forms of law.

1. DRAM SHOP LAWS - These are specific statutes that address liability issues only for liquor license holders. These statutes are intended to promote responsible alcohol service and provide a means for third parties to file suit for injuries and for fatalities resulting from a liquor law violation.
2. COMMON NEGLIGENCE LAWS - These laws, although not specifically defined, address negligent behavior with negligence being defined as not doing what any reasonable person could be expected to do under a certain set of circumstances. With regard to alcohol, it is assumed that a person (server/seller) can be expected to follow a set of procedures and if he/she fails to do so, the server/seller has acted negligently.
3. SOCIAL HOST LAWS - These are specific laws stating that social hosts (hosts of a party, function, etc.) who provide alcohol to their guests can be held responsible for the actions of their guests if alcohol has been served improperly.

Criminal Liability

Criminal liability allows the state to bring suit against the licensee or owner of a licensed establishment, individuals employed by that establishment, social hosts or employers. These suits, unlike civil suits, address the criminal aspect of serving alcohol irresponsibly. A common form of criminal liability involving alcohol would be a case brought by the state against an intoxicated person who injures or kills an innocent third party. The state would typically also charge the person or persons who served alcohol to the intoxicated person.

NOTE: Many cases involving injury or death result in both civil and criminal charges. The cases would be decided independently, and the penalty in either case is not dependent on the other. Also, while a civil suit typically carries a monetary judgment, the result of a criminal suit can be prison time.

Administrative Liability

Administrative liability applies to the holder of a liquor license and to servers/sellers who possess a permit to serve or sell alcohol in that state. The licenses and permits are granted by state liquor control boards, which set the administrative penalties for non-compliance of government regulations. Penalties for violating the terms of a liquor license or the conditions associated with a server/seller permit can include fines, suspension of the license/permit or even revocation of the license/permit. Suspension of a license/permit will mean lost revenue for the period of the suspension, as well as damage to the establishment's reputation and image or that of the server/seller. License revocation can result in a business having to close its doors while the loss of a server permit can result in unemployment for the server/seller.

Administrative liability is usually the first form of liability that licensees and their employees will experience. Common grounds for these penalties include failing to check IDs, serving an underage patron, and serving an intoxicated patron.

For answers to these questions about TIPS or for more information about TIPS benefits, contact us. You can schedule a TIPS training for individual or groups by contacting us.

Black Bowtie Services

23844 Gratiot

Eastpointe MI, 48021

(586) 775-7100

Cell phone (586) 209-6560

Relax and Enjoy Your Next Party and let our TIPS certified temp staff do the work....

With Black Bowtie Services, your next home or office party can be flawless. We’ll provide courteous, well-trained, professional wait-staff and bartenders in crisp uniforms who are ready to work. Our staff will set up, serve, and even do dishes. Just one phone call is all it takes to have the great help you need to pull off a fantastic event.