Do all employees require training?
All Florida employees must receive Training. All employees must be trained in an approved program if they handle food or equipment in contact with food, prepare, or serve food. By law, hey must be trained within 60 days of employment.
Do employees need to be certified?
No Certification is required of employees in Florida. Certification applies only to managers. Employees must be trained in an approved program.
Do employees take a test?
Testing of employees is prohibited by law.
What are approved employee-training programs?
The state maintains a list of approved employee training programs. To be approved, the training must have been in use and submitted for review prior to Nov 1 2000.
Is the PBSA Food Safety First Approved?
Yes. PBSA Food Safety First (Florida Food Handler course) is approved and the vendor is on the approved vendor list. The vendor is listed, not the program. The approved vendor is Environ Health Associates, Inc., the developer of our porgram.
Is Food Safety First approved for manager certification?
Certification cannot be attained through Food Safety First, Food Safety First is a training course only. We offer Food Manager Courses here.
Is a certification given after training in Food Safety First?
No. A certificate of completion is given, there is NO TEST. The certificate has an Approved Provider Number. The Approved Provider is the vendor Environ Health Associates, Inc. The approved vendor must send a letter of confirmation to each purchaser confirming the training material is approved.
What will inspectors look for?
Inspectors will review a roster of attendees to training programs and/or certificates of completion. If there are employees on staff for more than 60 days and they are not on the roster, or such employee cannot produce proof of training the facility is out of compliance.
Inspectors will review the training course and check against the approved vendor list. They will check the letter sent by the approved vendor confirming the approved course.
How long is the approved training in effect?
The approved training must be repeated every 3 years.
Who has to report training to the state?
Only third parties report training. The in house-certified manger does not need to report the attendees to the course he conducts. The third party instructor must provide the list of attendees they train to the state. The onsite course automatically updates the states training database.
Additional Questions?
If you have additional questions, you may email us by clicking on the Questions button to the left and filling out the contact form. Be sure to select "Online Food Training" on the dropdown menu so your question comes to the home office.
You may call us tollfree at 1-877-541-3555 with questions.
