Safety is a priority for our industry, whether in the field, during sorting, in production, and bottling. And our federal and state workplace safety agencies, OSHA, want to ensure we’re doing all we can to keep ourselves, our employees, and our customers safe. OSHA mandates industries with fewer than twenty employees to hold regular safety […]
Have you received a letter from Registrar Corp. Threatening your business unless you pay them $195 to renew your FDA food registration? It’s a scam. Throw it away. And no matter what you do, don’t give them your bank account information! First, an FDA registration is free. Second, the only things these folks would do […]
Oregon wineries – or at least some of them – will soon (starting August 8, although of course the state must create licensing and permit requirements) be able to ship wines directly to consumers in Pennsylvania soon. Producing wineries will have the ability to ship up to 36 cases annually per consumer (not address), but […]
Upon the heels of the Memorial Day weekend, the OLCC office reminds all liquor licensees — including wineries and breweries — that recreational marijuana sales or consumption upon your premises is not allowed. Nope. Not permitted at all. And, although you and your employees can possess up to 1 oz of marijuana, you and your […]
Idly flipping through Facebook one day, I saw a happy post: “Doctors and scientists agree, red wine is good for health!” So good, so far — if I were Roman, I’d have been at the temple of Bacchus. But then, the dreaded violation of TTB Circular 2013 13-01 happened…. Immediately following that relink were two […]
I received an email late last night – a client of mine has been receiving calls from the “US Corporate Compliance” office. Should I be concerned, said client wrote, should I be worried about not being in compliance? The answer is that yes, you should be in compliance, but no, not with these folks. Three […]
The last thing you want to do as an employer is avoid thinking about wage and hour issues. You should always make sure that you have properly classified your employees as exempt or non-exempt and pay them accordingly. Knowing which classification an employee falls into will affect whether and how you pay minimum wage and […]
The Washington State Liquor Control Board is seeking input on proposed wine regulations. The proposed regulations have some expanded rights for domestic wineries (albeit those that pay an extra fee). As the regs currently stand, a domestic winery can apply for additional location licenses — for example, serving samples, selling wine, and renting spaces. The […]
Oscar Wilde said, “Charity creates a multitude of sins.” One sin a non-profit or charitable entity can inadvertently partake in? Failing to secure permission from the OLCC to hold a raffle or auction of wine. The good news? That sin can be erased by following a few easy (and free!) steps to be in compliance with […]
Here’s a nifty article I wrote for the Oregon State Bar Administrative Law Section’s newsletter on the status of Oregon’s wine growler law and the tension it has with the federal government’s regulations. http://www.osbar.org/%21newsletters/ADM_2014Jul.pdf (page 14) Foto by the author.