The New York Association of Convenience Stores has protested a new State Liquor Authority requirement that retail beer license applicants submit forms disclosing personal information about the employee they hire as store manager.
Regional SLA personnel are telling retailers this is a new procedure, but Albany headquarters claims it’s been standard practice since 2001. Most NYACS members say it’s news to them.
“To these retailers, this looks and smells like a new policy – one the trade was not informed of in advance, had no opportunity to comment on, and views as immaterial to the licensing relationship between the SLA and the license holder,” NYACS President James Calvin said in a letter to SLA Chief Executive Officer Joshua Toas.
It has long been required that officers, directors, partners, stockholders or other people with a financial stake in the business submit the personal questionnaire disclosing the financial interest and any criminal background. The justification for requiring the store manager to do the same is a mystery.
NYACS noted that this is likely to have “a chilling affect on hiring and retaining store managers” and asked why there was no guidance on questions like what happens when the designated manager leaves the company’s employ.
“NYACS believes this ill-conceived and poorly implemented policy should be repealed,” Calvin wrote.