Setting up fair and consistent store policies is a good way to make sure employees clearly understand their responsibility to refuse underage tobacco sales, especially in those situations not covered by federal law, FDA regulations or state law.

Training is not a one-and-done activity; it’s an ongoing effort that should result in your employees gaining the knowledge, skills and abilities required to responsibly retail tobacco products.

An effective employee training program should be available immediately for newly-hired employees. Experienced employees should also have “refresher training” opportunities while remedial training should be available for those in need.

Federal law and FDA regulations—and all 50 states and the District of Columbia— make it illegal to sell tobacco products to any person under the age of 18 (19 in Alabama, Alaska, New Jersey and Utah.)

FDA Regulations require retailers to check proof of age for anyone under 27 years old by verifying that any person buying cigarettes or smokeless tobacco is at least 18 years old.* We Card recommends that retailers ask for identification in the form of a valid government-issue photo ID with date-of-birth.

Did you know that one of the top three reasons cashiers fail compliance checks is because the store was busy and they didn’t take the time to do the right thing?

Younger employees may encounter situations where friends or others their age may attempt to purchase tobacco products. A stressful dynamic exists when a minor must refuse a sale to another minor. That is why it is extremely important to train younger employees how to deal with it BEFORE it occurs.

We Card research of employees who fail compliance checks after they have asked for ID indicates that cashiers often make mistakes calculating a customer’s age. We Card recommends that you provide your employees with practice opportunities with your store’s age verification tools BEFORE they perform their task of verifying a customer’s age.

How do you know your employees have learned what they need to know to prevent illegal tobacco sales to minors? Require all employees to pass a test after their comprehensive training, their remedial or Refresher Training.

It’s extremely important to coach and develop your employees. One of the best ways to do this is to provide positive reinforcement when they do the right things and constructive feedback when they do the wrong things. If you don’t, your employees will do what they think is right instead of what you know is right.

Appropriate signage conveys a message—to your employees and your customers—about your commitment to responsible retailing.

The sales counter is where everything your employees have learned becomes critical. Make sure they have the right job aids they need to responsibly retail tobacco products. Age Calculation tools, tipsheets and customer-facing signage all help employees perform their responsible retailing tasks.

We Card is governed by a Board of Directors made up of representatives from NACS-The National Association of Convenience Stores, the Food Marketing Institute, the National Grocers Association and the American Wholesale Marketers Association.

While testing your employees’ knowledge after training is important, it’s also important to evaluate your employees’ performance at the sales counter with mystery shopping. When it comes to responsible retailing, knowing and performing should go hand-in-hand.

Once you’ve taken care of what takes place inside your store, get involved in your local community to let them know the steps you’ve taken to become a responsible retailer.