Category: Featured

Clearing Up the Confusion

If you’re a restaurant owner, manager, or food service worker in Florida, you’ve probably heard of ServSafe, but you may not be clear on how it differs from Serve It Up Safe (SIUS). The two names are often used interchangeably, which can lead to confusion when it comes to training, exams, and certification.

The short answer? ServSafe is the exam. Serve It Up Safe is the training provider that prepares you to pass it.

What is ServSafe?

ServSafe is a national food safety certification program created by the National Restaurant Association (NRA). It develops the Food Manager Certification Exam and other tests required by many states, including Florida, require for food safety compliance.

ServSafe provides the exam content.

While ServSafe offers online training products, it does not host in-person classes, provide on-site training, or offer ongoing compliance support.

To take the ServSafe exam, you must register with an approved proctor. This is where providers like Serve It Up Safe come in.

What is Serve It Up Safe?

Serve It Up Safe (SIUS) is a Florida-based training and certification provider specializing in hospitality compliance. We provide the training, tools, and support needed to succeed.

Here’s what makes us different:

• Comprehensive Training: Food Manager, Food Handler, and Responsible Vendor (Alcohol) programs.
• Florida-Approved: All food safety and alcohol training meets all state requirements.
• Flexible Options: In-person classes, private on-site training, and online learning.
• Exam Administration: We proctor the official ServSafe Food Manager Exam.
• Extra Support: Consulting, compliance guidance, and responsive customer service.

Key Differences: ServSafe vs Serve It Up Safe

	ServSafe	Serve It Up Safe (SIUS)
Who They Are	Product of the National Restaurant Association	Independent, Florida-based training provider
What They Do	Create exams and online training products	Provide training, proctor exams, consulting, and support
Training Options	Online only	In-person, private on-site, and online
Customer Service	Corporate call center	Local, responsive, hospitality-focused
Geographic Reach	National	Florida-focused in-person plus nationwide online
Added Value	Exam only	Training, certification, consulting, compliance support

Why Florida Businesses Choose Serve It Up Safe

Florida hospitality operators choose Serve It Up Safe because one-size-fits-all solutions don’t meet real-world compliance needs.

Local Expertise: We understand Florida inspection requirements.

Flexible Scheduling: Public classes and private on-site options.

Hospitality Focus: Food and alcohol service training specialists.

Real Support: Direct access to trainers, not call centers.

Nationwide Reach

While headquartered in Florida, Serve It Up Safe also provides nationwide certification solutions through online and remote training options.

Conclusion: Exam vs Training Provider

ServSafe is the nationally recognized exam.

Serve It Up Safe is your training provider, exam proctor, and compliance partner—especially for food and alcohol safety training in Florida.

If you’re looking for food safety training, alcohol certification, or ServSafe exam proctoring, Serve It Up Safe gives you the tools to succeed.

Ready to book your next class? Explore our Food Manager, Food Handler, or Responsible Vendor training programs today. Contact us or view our training options on our website

As of September 30, 2024, Florida’s minimum wage has increased to $13.00 per hour, while the minimum cash wage for tipped employees has risen to $9.98.

Florida’s minimum wage is scheduled to increase by $1.00 every September 30th until reaching $15.00 for non-tipped employees on September 30, 2026

Visit the official Department of Labor website here:  https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/minimum-wage/state

Other Food & Alcohol Safety Articles

This fact sheet provides general information concerning the application of the federal child labor provisions to restaurants and quick-service establishments that employ workers who are less than 18 years of age. For detailed information about the federal youth provisions, please read Regulations, 29 CFR Part 570.

The Department of Labor is committed to helping young workers find positive, appropriate, and safe employment experiences. The child labor provisions of the FLSA were enacted to ensure that when young people work, the work does not jeopardize their health, well-being, or educational opportunities. Working youth are generally entitled to the same minimum wage and overtime protections as older adults. For information about the minimum wage and overtime requirements in the restaurant and quick-service industries, please see Fact Sheet# 2 in this series, Restaurants and Quick Service Establishment under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Minimum Age Standards for Employment

The FLSA and the child labor regulations, issued at 29 CFR Part 570, establish both hours and occupational standards for youth. Youth of any age are generally permitted to work for businesses entirely owned by their parents, except those under 16 may not be employed in mining or manufacturing and no one under 18 may be employed in any occupation the Secretary of Labor has declared to be hazardous.

18 Years of Age

Once a youth reaches 18 years of age, he or she is no longer subject to the federal child labor provisions.

16 & 17 Years of Age

Sixteen- and 17-year-olds may be employed for unlimited hours in any occupation other than those declared hazardous by the Secretary of Labor. Examples of equipment declared hazardous in food service establishments include: Power-driven meat processing machines (meat slicers, meat saws, patty forming machines, meat grinders, and meat choppers), commercial mixers and certain power-driven bakery machines. Employees under 18 years of age are not permitted to operate, feed, set-up, adjust, repair, or clean any of these machines or their disassembled parts. Motor Vehicles. Generally, no employee under 18 years of age may drive on the job or serve as an outside helper on a motor vehicle on a public road, but 17-year-olds who meet certain specific requirements may drive automobiles and trucks that do not exceed 6,000 pounds gross vehicle weight for limited amounts of time as part of their job. Such minors are, however, prohibited from making time sensitive deliveries (such as pizza deliveries or other trips where time is of the essence) and from driving at night. (See Fact Sheet# 34: Child Labor Provisions and the Driving of Automobiles and Trucks under the Fair Labor Standard Act.) Balers and Compactors. Minors under 18 years of age may not load, operate, or unload balers or compactors. Sixteen- and 17-year-olds may load, but not operate or unload, certain scrap paper balers and paper box compactors under certain specific circumstances. (See Fact Sheet #57: in this series, Hazardous Occupations Order No. 12. Hazardous Occupations Order No. 12, Rules for Employing Youth and the Loading, Operating, and Loading of Power-Driven Balers and Compactors under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)).

14 & 15 Years of Age

Fourteen- and 15- year-olds may be employed in restaurants and quick-service establishments outside school hours in a variety of jobs for limited periods of time and under specified conditions. Child Labor Regulations No. 3, 29 C.F.R. 570, Subpart C limits both the time of day and number of hours this age group may be employed as well as the types of jobs they may perform.

	Hours and times of day standards for the employment of 14- and 15-vear-olds:	Occupation standards for the employment of 14-and 15-year-olds:
	• outside school hours; • no more than 3 hours on a school day, including Fridays; • no more than 8 hours on a nonschool day; • no more than 18 hours during a week when school is in session; • no more than 40 hours during a week when school is not in session; • between 7 a.m. and 7 p. m. – except between June 1 and Labor day when the evening hour is extended to 9 p.m. School hours are determined by the local public school in the area the minor is residing while employed.	• They may perform cashiering, table service and “busing,” and clean up work, including the use of vacuum cleaners and floor waxers. • They may perform kitchen work and other work involved in preparing food and beverages, including the operation of devices used in such work, such as dish-washers, toasters, milk shake blenders, warming lamps, and coffee grinders. • They may perform limited cooking duties involving electric or gas grills that do not entail cooking over an open flame. They may also cook with deep fat fryers that are equipped with and utilize devices that automatically raise and lower the “baskets” into and out of the hot grease of oil. They may not operate NEICO broilers, rotisseries, pressure cookers, fryolators, high­speed ovens, or rapid toasters. • They may not perform any baking activities. • They may dispense food from cafeteria lines and steam tables and heat food in microwave ovens that do not have the capacity to heat food over 140° F. • They may not operate, clean, set up, adjust, repair or oil power driven machines including food slicers, grinders, processors, or mixers. • They may clean kitchen surfaces and non-power- driven equipment, and filter, transport and dispose of cooking oil, but only when the temperature of the surface and oils do not exceed 100° F. • They may not operate power-driven lawn mowers or cutters, or load or unload goods to or from trucks or conveyors. • They may not work in freezers or meat coolers, but they may occasionally enter a freezer momentarily to retrieve items. • They are prohibited from working in any of the Hazardous Orders (discussed above for 16- and 17- year-olds).

Under 14 Years of Age

Children under 14 years of age may not be employed in non-agricultural occupations covered by the FLSA, including food service establishments. Permissible employment for such children is limited to work that is exempt from the FLSA (such as delivering newspapers to the consumer and acting). Children may also perform work not covered by the FLSA such as completing minor chores around private homes or casual baby-sitting.

Work Experience and Career Exploration Program (WECEP)

WECEP is a program designed to provide a carefully planned work experience and career exploration program for 14- and 15-year-old youths who can benefit from a career oriented educational program designed to meet the participants’ needs, interests and abilities. The program is aimed at helping youths to become reoriented and motivated toward education and to prepare them for the world of work.

State Departments of Education are granted approval to operate a WECEP by the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division for a 2-year period. Certain provisions of child labor provisions are modified for 14- and 15-year-old participants during the school term.

Students enrolled in an authorized WECEP:

• My work during school hours.
• May work up to 3 hours on a school day; and as many as 23 hours in a school week.
• May work in some occupations that would otherwise be prohibited under a variance issued by the Administrator, but they may not work in manufacturing, mining or any of the 17 Hazardous Occupations.

Individual employers may partner with participating local school districts in those states authorized to operate WECEPs.

Work-Study Program (WSP)

WSP is a program designed to help academically oriented students enrolled in a college preparatory high school curriculum pursue their college diplomas. Some of the hours standards provisions of Child Labor Regulation No. 3 are varied for certain 14- and 15- year-old students participating in a Department of Labor approved and school-supervised and administered WSP. Participating students must be enrolled in a college preparatory curriculum and identified by authoritative personnel of the school as being able to benefit from the WSP.

Students enrolled in an authorized WSP:

• May work no more than 18 hours in any one week when school is in session, a portion of which may be during school hours, in accordance with the following formula that is based upon a continuous four-week cycle:
  • In three of the four weeks, the participant is permitted to work during school hours on only one day per week, and for no more than for eight hours on that day.
  • During the remaining week of the four-week cycle, such minor is permitted to work during school hours on no more than two days, and for no more than for eight hours on each of those two days.
  • The employment of such minors would still be subject to the remaining time of day and number of hours standards contained Child Labor Regulation No. 3 and discussed earlier in this fact sheet.
• Are held to all the occupation standards established by Child Labor Regulation No.3.

The Food Handler Training Requirement.

It’s our job at Serve It Up Safe!  to properly train Food Safety Managers in our 5-hour ServSafe exam prep class, and we have 147 classes a year in Florida.  Then you take the ServSafe Managers exam, and when you pass, you get a Food Managers certification that is valid for 5 years.  Then it’s your job to properly train your staff, called “food handlers”.  How do you accomplish that?  To that end, there are 130 DBPR Div. of Hotels/Restaurant Approved Programs that can satisfy Fl. S~ 509.049 (the Food Handler training requirement).  125 of them are privately owned programs that are owned by, and for the exclusive use of, a particular corporate chain, like McDonalds, Burger King or Taco Bell for example.  That leaves about 5 other DBPR Approved Programs I have access to.  The materials used to train and subsequently certify 1 employee (and their certificate is then valid for 3 years) ranges in price from $6 to $20, and you have good options:

1)  Food Safety First is the program that is least expensive and easiest to use and fully complies with FL. S~ 509.049.  Let’s start with the best part- the required training guide book is FREE!  You will download and print it from our website www.serveitupsafe.com under the Food Handler Training tab (on the left).  Then you need the individual paper certificates, and every food handler needs one, and we mail them to you (USPS).  If you buy 1-49 individual certifies they are $7.00 each or if you buy 50+ they are $6.00 each. Awesome deal and very uncomplicated! DO NOT lose your training guide book; you have to have 1 on the premises at all times!

2) Food Safety Principals by the National Registry of Food Safety is a combination book & certificate all-in-one, and it is $10 per book.  This is best for smaller establishments with only a few employees.  Shipping is cheap & there are no handling costs.

3) On-line option is $9.95 each by going to www.serveitupsafe.com.  At the top of my homepage is the ‘Food Handler Certificate Online’.  It takes about an hour and is self-paced. The employee prints their certificate at the completion of the on-line training module.

4) SafeStaff  is a combination book & certificate all-in-one, and is $10 per book.  This is best for smaller establishments with only a few employees. BEWARE: they gouge on shipping & handling, and the shipping is a pass-thru cost thus the expensive part.  What is “handling” anyway?

—  ORDERING IS EASY  —

Simply reach out to us on our Contact Page and tell us your name, the business name, your full address and which program you want including your quantity!  Payment is via a check CC after they’ve shipped.  That’s uncomplicated!