California food handler card: the rules for caterers and venue kitchens

What section 113948 actually requires

The California Retail Food Code makes the food handler card a condition of working in a food facility. Anyone hired as a food handler must get a card within 30 days of the date of hire. The training must come from a provider accredited by the American National Standards Institute that meets the ASTM E2659 standard, and the course takes about two and a half hours.

The exam has at least 40 questions and needs a score of 70 percent. Once issued, the card is valid for three years from the date of issue, whichever employer the person works for during that time. That portability matters for caterers, who often share experienced servers and cooks with other businesses during the season.

The facility carries the record keeping duty. Section 113948 requires each food facility to maintain records documenting that each food handler it employs holds a valid card. An inspector can ask to see them.

Step by step

1. 1

   Check whether a county program applies

   If your kitchen is in Riverside, San Bernardino or San Diego county, follow that county's food handler program. Riverside, for example, wants its own county certificate within seven days of hire.

2. 2

   Choose an ANSI accredited provider

   Elsewhere in California the card must come from a provider accredited by ANSI under the ASTM E2659 standard. The law requires at least one such course, exam and card to cost no more than 15 dollars.

3. 3

   Schedule it as paid work

   Under SB 476 the training and exam time counts as hours worked, the employer covers the fee, and the worker is relieved of other duties while taking it.

4. 4

   Record the card

   Each food facility must keep records showing every food handler holds a valid card. Store a copy with the issue date and the three year expiry.

5. 5

   Keep a certified owner or employee

   Section 113947.1 requires an owner or employee who passed an accredited food safety certification exam, recertified every five years, with the certificate kept on file at the facility.

Who pays: SB 476 and the employer's cost

Until SB 476, many workers paid for their own card. The law now says the time it takes to complete the training and exam is compensable hours worked, that the employer pays for any necessary expenditures or losses linked to getting the card, and that the employee is relieved of other work duties while taking the course.

For a caterer that turns into a predictable onboarding cost: the course fee, which the law caps at 15 dollars for at least one accredited option, plus around two and a half hours of paid time. Multiply that by your seasonal hires and put it in your labor budget. Asking staff to arrive with a card they bought themselves is no longer a safe policy in California.

Exemptions and the three county programs

Section 113948 lists employers whose staff are exempt. The ones a hospitality business is most likely to meet are a food facility with an approved in-house training program, a facility whose food handlers are covered by a collective bargaining agreement, and certain snack bars in admission-based venues. Hospitals, school cafeterias, certified farmers' markets, commissaries and some grocery stores are also on the list.

The state law also does not apply where a local food handler program took effect before 1 January 2009. Riverside County is one: its ordinance requires a county Food Handler Certificate within seven days of starting work, issued after a county exam and valid for two years. San Bernardino and San Diego counties also run county programs. San Diego accepts cards only from county authorized schools or its in-house exam given by a certified food safety manager, so not every California course counts there.

If your catering kitchen is in one of those counties but you serve events elsewhere in the state, or the other way around, check which program covers the staff on that job before you send them.

The food safety certificate for the owner or a manager

Section 113947.1 is a separate rule. A food facility that prepares or handles non-prepackaged potentially hazardous food must have an owner or employee who passed an approved and accredited food safety certification exam. A new facility, a change of ownership, or the loss of the certified person triggers a 60 day window to comply.

Certified individuals must recertify every five years by passing the exam again, and the certificate must be kept on file at the facility and shown on request. That person is also responsible for making sure all employees who handle open food know enough to prepare and serve it safely.

Temporary food facilities at events are treated differently: the owner or person in charge must be able to show the enforcement officer adequate knowledge of food safety principles.

Applying the rules to a catering season

Picture a Sonoma caterer that hires 25 servers and cooks in April for the wedding season. Every one of them needs a card within 30 days of their hire date, paid for by the business, and the business must hold records for all 25. Hiring in two batches a few weeks apart spreads the training load and keeps each group inside its window.

Experienced staff may already hold a valid card from a previous employer. Because the state card is portable for three years, you can accept it, as long as it is current and from an accredited provider, and record its expiry date. County certificates from Riverside, San Bernardino or San Diego follow their own rules, so check them separately.

Venura's catering app keeps each event's booking, quotation, invoice and payments with your staff and event schedule, so the crew on a given wedding is easy to compare against your card register. It runs on web, Android and iOS, and you can try it free for 30 days.

California food handler card: questions from the United States