Updated November 5, 2026.
When a Tennessee restaurant or bar hires a manager, the state wants to hear about it within seven days. The filing is called a manager questionnaire, and it goes on the business’s liquor license, not on the manager’s own record.
Many owners have never heard of it. It doesn’t come up in server training, and it’s easy to mix up with the server permit. That’s a separate requirement with its own deadline. Here’s how both work and how to keep them from slipping.
What the seven-day rule says
The Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) answers this in its own guidance. A restaurant or limited-service restaurant must file a manager questionnaire with the TABC “within seven (7) days after hire.” The questionnaire goes through the TABC’s online system, called RLPS, as an amendment to the license.
The guidance says seven days and doesn’t mention business days. The safest plan is to count calendar days, starting on the day the new manager takes the role.
The filing sits on the license, so a missed questionnaire is the business’s problem. It’s also the kind of gap that tends to surface during an inspection, when the TABC agent asks who’s running the floor.
What about a promotion from inside?
The TABC’s guidance talks about a manager hire. If you promote a bartender or server into a manager role, the person is still new to that role on your license. When in doubt, file the questionnaire or ask the TABC how it wants the change handled. A filing you didn’t strictly need is a much smaller problem than one you missed.
The server permit is a separate requirement
Anyone who serves liquor, wine, or high-gravity beer at a business with a liquor-by-the-drink license needs a TABC server permit. If your new manager will pour drinks, that includes them.
Here’s what the TABC requires for a server permit:
- The applicant must be at least 18.
- The applicant must finish a TABC-approved alcohol awareness course within one year before applying.
- The permit fee is $20, according to the TABC’s fee schedule.
- New servers get a 61-day grace period from their original hire date to get the permit. It’s a one-time grace period, so it doesn’t reset when someone changes jobs.
- Someone who held a server permit before and let it expire doesn’t get the grace period at all. They need a new permit before they serve.
The business has a duty here too. Every licensee must keep copies of server permits for all employees, and electronic copies are fine as long as they’re easy to pull up.
Two filings, side by side
The manager questionnaire and the server permit are easy to mix up, so it helps to see them together.
Manager questionnaire: filed on the business’s license, due within seven days of the hire, submitted through RLPS as a license amendment.
Server permit: issued to the person and applied for through RLPS after an approved alcohol awareness course. It’s due within the 61-day grace period if they’ve never held one.
Finishing one doesn’t take care of the other. A manager with a valid server permit still needs a questionnaire on file, and a filed questionnaire doesn’t replace the manager’s permit.
Why this slips through
Nobody skips this on purpose. The person who handles hiring and promotions often isn’t the person who handles licensing. A manager starts on a Tuesday, a busy weekend follows, and by the time anyone thinks about paperwork, the seven days are gone.
It also slips because owners reasonably assume the server permit covers everything. Your new manager is trained and permitted, so a second filing doesn’t seem necessary. The TABC treats them as two separate things.
A simple way to stay on top of it
A few habits keep both filings on track:
- Add the manager questionnaire to your onboarding checklist, right next to tax forms and scheduling.
- Set a calendar reminder for day five after any manager hire or promotion, so there’s time to fix a problem before day seven.
- Check every new employee’s server permit status on day one, including whether they’ve held a permit before.
- Keep copies of all server permits in one place, paper or digital, where a manager can find them during an inspection.
Where BevLaw Group fits
Staffing changes are an easy way for a well-run business to end up with a licensing gap. BevLaw Group helps hospitality businesses keep their filings current. Our flat monthly plans also cover contracts, employment questions, regulatory defense, and the everyday “do we need to file something?” calls.
If you’ve hired or promoted a manager recently and aren’t sure the paperwork is complete, it’s worth checking now.