The 10 Acceptable Forms of Identification in Washington State

There are ten forms of identification in Washington State that are considered acceptable for the purpose of purchasing, serving, and selling alcohol, and they are:

It is imperative that you only serve or sell alcohol to a customer who has one of these ten acceptable forms of identification! Also, be sure to properly check the ID once your customer hands it to you in order to ensure:

1. Their ID is valid (not expired)
2. The ID does indeed belong to them and is not a fake ID
3. The Customer is at least 21 years of age or older

We hope this quick MAST refresher was helpful! A comprehensive training on Washington State Alcohol Selling and Serving laws is the best way to ensure you are on top of your game as someone who works in the alcohol service industry, and signing up for a Class 12/13 Washington MAST Permit Course in order to receive a MAST Card will make sure you're covered!

Cheers, and Happy Training!

How to Properly Check a Washington State Driver’s License

If you’re in the service industry or are planning to get a job in the service industry and will be serving or selling alcohol, we can guarantee you’ll be checking a whole lotta IDs while on duty! In fact, one of the most important duties you’ll have while on the clock is to ensure you are checking those IDs properly!

Knowledge is key here! Signing up for a MAST Certification Training is one of the best (and easiest) ways you can learn how to properly check an ID, not to mention the WA MAST Permit training also teaches you several additional skills which are incredibly beneficial and applicable to your role!

The purpose of properly checking an ID is three-fold. It helps you to make sure the ID is valid (not expired – because expired IDs are not valid proof of identification for the purpose of obtaining alcohol), that the ID does indeed belong to the customer who handed you the ID (this confirms that the customer isn’t using someone else’s ID to try to obtain alcohol), and confirms the customer is 21 years of age or older and can therefore legally purchase and possess alcohol in Washington State.

You’re probably already aware that every state has its own Driver’s License with its very own security features (this sure complicates things, doesn’t it?!), but if you are serving or selling alcohol in Washington State it is likely most of your customers will hand you a Washington State Driver’s Licenses upon being asked.

What is the best way to check a Washington State Driver’s License?

As soon as a customer hands you their ID, there are 10 things we recommend you look for in order to ensure it is properly checked before serving or selling them alcohol.

Here are the 10 things we recommend you look for when checking a Washington State ID:

*Note: These are visual representations of the Washington State Driver's License meant to help you visualize where you *should* find the information discussed in this article. These are only partial representations and do not include all of the information you will find on an actual Washington State Driver's License.

Note: The hundred rule does not apply to any Washington State Driver's Licenses that were issued on or after September 4th, 2018.

We highly recommend that you always check these 10 things when looking over a Washington State ID before you serve or sell alcohol to a customer in order to protect the public and ensure you don’t get yourself and your employer into any trouble with the law!

We hope this post was helpful! Stay tuned to learn which forms of identification are considered acceptable for the purpose of obtaining alcohol in Washington State!

Cheers, and Happy Training!

How to Prepare for and Pass a WSLCB Compliance Check

If you work in the alcohol service industry in Washington State it is highly probable that a WSLCB Compliance Check (AKA Sting Operation) will be held at your place of work at some point during your career. When this happens, it will be EXTREMELY important for you to pass your compliance check if you want to protect yourself and your establishment from having any issues with the WSLCB! (We recommend staying on their good side!)

One of the ultimate ways to ensure you are prepared for your inevitable compliance check is to sign up for and complete a Washington State MAST Permit Course and receive a Class 12 Permit or Class 13 Permit.

What is a WSLCB Compliance Check? It sounds scary!

A Compliance Check isn’t as scary as it sounds, we promise! Even though you won’t be given advance notice on when your compliance check will take place, the operation itself will be a controlled situation and will follow a set procedure.

The sole purpose of these sting operations is to ensure that you and your place of work are complying with Washington State Alcohol Selling and Serving Laws and are not serving or selling alcohol to anyone under the age of 21!

Still feeling nervous? Allow us to prep you!

Here’s how your Compliance Check will go down:

The WSLCB will hire a youngin (someone who is between the ages of 17-20 years old and who looks it!) and will send them on a mission to attempt to purchase alcohol from you. A WSLCB agent will accompany them on this mission – though they may decide to wait outside or walk into the establishment before or after the minor (secret agent) enters the premises.

The minor will ask for an alcoholic beverage, and upon being asked for their ID (by you, because you must ALWAYS check a customer’s ID before serving or selling them alcohol) they will either hand you their actual ID or they will tell you they don’t have their ID on them.

If the minor hands you their ID, you will check their birth date and determine they are under 21 years of age and are not old enough to purchase or possess alcohol. You will then politely let them know that you cannot serve them alcohol because they are underage.

If the minor doesn’t hand you an ID upon being asked, you will politely let them know that you are not legally permitted to serve them alcohol until you can verify they are at least 21 years of age or older by checking their ID.

As long as you don’t serve or sell alcohol to the minor, you will pass your Compliance Check! Hooray!!!

See, it’s not so bad! The most important thing to remember is to ALWAYS check a guest’s ID in order to confirm they are 21 years of age or older before serving or selling them alcohol.

We hope this post was helpful! Stay tuned for a blog post on some helpful tips for properly checking a Washington State Driver’s License!

Cheers, and Happy Training!

New Year = New Birth Year to Check!

Happy New Year!

We hope everyone thoroughly enjoyed the holidays and had an exciting New Year’s Eve Celebration to ring (or bring, you choose!) in the New Year!

As a Washington MAST Permit holder, or as someone who serves or sells alcohol in Washington State, one of the most important legal duties you’ll have is to ensure that everyone you serve or sell alcohol to is at least 21 years of age.

One of the easiest ways to do this is to take a look at your customer’s birth year when they hand you their ID and compare it with whatever year was 21 years ago. In 2019, the year you will want to reference when checking an ID to confirm a customer is over 21 is 1998!

As long as your customer was born on or before today’s date (month and day) in 1998, you should be in the clear! All you need to remember is 1998, and keep up on the current date, which (let’s face it) can be a little challenging at times! ;-)

Cheers, and Happy Training!

P.S. If you're in need of a Washington MAST Permit, we've got you covered! Sign up to receive Top-Shelf-Worthy Training and a MAST Permit that will be valid for 5 years!