Food handler certificate
Starts at 36 months
The basic card for cooks, servers and bussers. It comes from your state, county or an approved course, so enter the date printed on yours.
For restaurants and food service
Food handler certificate tracking for every shift
Know whose food handler card, food safety manager certificate, alcohol service permit and allergen training is current before the schedule goes up. LeaveCalc keeps an expiry date for each, emails the cook or server and the manager at 60, 30 and 7 days, and flags new hires who have not handed in a card yet. It tracks dates and sends reminders, next to your staff's time off.
Free for up to 3 people, with a 14-day Pro trial. No card. Licenses and certificates are included in every plan.
LeaveCalcTodayCalendarCredentials3RequestsPeople
4types in the food service pack, from food handler to allergen training
New hireshows as Missing until their card is on file, before their first shift
60 / 30 / 7default reminder days, so a permit is not found out at a bar check
$0for up to 3 people, with every feature included except SAML single sign-on
What a kitchen tracks
The cards behind every shift on the schedule
One click adds the Food service pack. Rename anything, change a renewal period or add the local permit your county issues. Each record holds a number, the issue and expiry dates, an optional link to the card scan and notes.
Food safety manager
Starts at 60 months
For the managers and shift leads who run a kitchen. Track the certificate number and its expiry for each one.
Alcohol service certificate
Starts at 24 months
Bartenders and servers who pour. The card or permit shows when it ends, and that date is the one you record.
Allergen training
Starts at 12 months
A yearly refresher for front and back of house, with a Missing flag for anyone who has not done it yet.
Food worker card or permit
Add your own type
Some counties and cities issue their own card. Add it as a type of its own and keep its date next to the others.
Fire and kitchen safety
Add your own type
Extinguisher sessions, knife safety, anything with a date. If a training has an expiry, it can be a type.
The renewal periods are common starting points, not requirements. Whether a card is needed, who issues it and how long it lasts differ by state, county and country, so use the date printed on the card and edit the period on the type.
Required by department
Who holds which card on a typical floor and line
Kitchen, Bar, Floor and Management can each be a department with its own required cards. Anyone in a department who has no current record shows as Missing.
Line cooks and prepKitchen
Food handler certificateAllergen trainingFood safety manager
Sous chefs and kitchen leadsKitchen leadership
Food handler certificateFood safety managerAllergen training
BartendersBar
Alcohol service certificateFood handler certificateAllergen training
Servers and hostsFloor
Food handler certificateAllergen trainingAlcohol service certificate
Dish and bussingBack of house support
Food handler certificate
ManagersManagement
Food safety managerFood handler certificateAlcohol service certificate
Required for the department, Missing when absentAdded per person when the job needs it
Example only. In some places everyone who handles food needs a card, in others only a person in charge does, and alcohol rules differ again. Check with your local health department and liquor authority, then mark what you actually require.
Reminders
Know before the schedule goes up
The cook, server or bartender and the manager are told in time to book the online course or the next session. The days are yours to change for each type.
60 days before
ExpiringFirst email to the cook or server and to the manager. Time to book the next online course without a rush.
30 days before
ExpiringSecond reminder. It also lands in the Monday summary, the page you read when you write the schedule.
7 days before
ExpiringLast reminder. If the card is still not renewed, you can decide who covers the bar or the line.
On the day it expires
ExpiredA notice goes out on the day. The record turns red and stays at the top of the list.
Default days are 60, 30 and 7. A food handler course is quick, so some teams use 30 and 7 there and keep an earlier first reminder for the manager certificate: up to five days per type, from 1 to 365. A missed day is sent once, never several.
To the server30 days before
Your Alcohol service certificate expires on Oct 31, 2026
Hi Chloe, your Alcohol service certificate expires in 30 days, on Oct 31, 2026. Please book the refresher and show Marta the new card once it arrives.
View my licensesTo the general managerOne email a day
3 cards need attention
- Priya RaoAlcohol service certificateExpired
- Marco LeeFood handler certificateIn 7 days
- Chloe ParkAllergen trainingIn 30 days
New hires
See who has not handed in a card yet
A date can only expire if someone entered it. Mark Food handler certificate as required for Kitchen and Floor, and the new line cook who started on Friday shows as Missing on Friday, not when an inspector asks.
- A new cook or server is Missing from the day you add them, before the first shift goes on the schedule
- Part-time and seasonal staff count like everyone else, and staff who have left drop out
- Required for Kitchen and Floor, nobody in Management, or any mix you choose
Food handler certificateCertificate, default validity 36 months
RequiredRequired for Kitchen and FloorReminders 30, 14, 7
Marco LeeKitchen
Expires in 8 daysChloe ParkFloor
Expires in 11 monthsDante WuKitchen, started Sep 28
Missing AddExpires in 3 yearsHonest limits
Dates and reminders, not a health inspection
LeaveCalc keeps a date for each card and sends the reminder. It does not decide what your restaurant must hold.
Cards and permits: LeaveCalc keeps the date and the number, not a copy. Each record has an optional link to where the scan or photo lives, so cards stay in the folder you already control.
What LeaveCalc does not do
No file storage, no card checks, no inspection advice.
LeaveCalc does not store the cards. There are no uploads, only an optional link to where the file lives. It does not check a card with a health department or liquor authority, and there is no e-signature and no course delivery.
It does not know which cards your state, county or city requires, or how long they last. The renewal periods in the food service pack are common starting points that you can edit.
Staff with more than one card
A bartender with a food handler card and an alcohol permit has two records.
Each card is its own record with its own date, so renewing one never hides the other. A person can hold any number of types, and the matrix shows them side by side with one small status pill each.
Where you need two cards of the same kind, for example from two jurisdictions, add a second type with a clear name.
How status is decided
Expired, expiring, valid, no expiry and missing, worked out every day.
Status is calculated each day in your company time zone. A record is Expired when its date has passed and Expiring from the reminder window until the date, which is the largest reminder day of the type, at least 30 and 60 by default. Later dates are Valid, and a card marked Does not expire shows No expiry.
Missing means an active person in the type's required department has no current record.
Not legal or compliance advice
LeaveCalc keeps dates and sends reminders. It does not tell you which food handler, food manager or alcohol cards your state, county or city requires, whether one is valid, or what an inspector expects. Confirm your obligations with your local health department, the liquor authority or an adviser.
One tool
Schedule around time off and cards together
Restaurants roster around who is off and who is allowed to do what. LeaveCalc shows both on one Monday page: who is away this week and which card is about to lapse.
- Front and back of house are separate departments, each with its own required cards
- Staff open their own cards in the employee portal, read only
- Time off requests come in by link, so they stay out of the group chat
Monday summaryJuniper Table, week of Oct 5
Out this week
Chloe Park, Fri Oct 9 to Sun Oct 11, PTO
Dante Wu, Sat Oct 10, Sick
Licenses and certificates
1 expiredExpired
3 expiring in 30 daysExpiring
Priya Rao, Marco Lee, Chloe Park
Pricing
Flat price for the whole team, cards included
Every plan has every feature except SAML single sign-on, which is for Business and Enterprise. You pay only when your team grows.
Free
$0per month
For teams up to 3 people
Pro
$15per month
For teams of 4 to 25 people, 14-day free trial
Business
$69per month
For teams of 26 to 100 people, 14-day free trial
Enterprise
$149per month
For teams of more than 100 people, no seat limit
No card for Free or the 14-day trial. Cancel any time, with a 30-day money-back guarantee on paid plans. Paying yearly costs ten months for twelve, and Business and Enterprise can pay a year by invoice. Licenses and certificates are not an add-on and not priced per item.
Start freeFAQ
Food handler certificate tracking, answered plainly
Add each person, then add their card with its number and the expiry date printed on it. LeaveCalc shows what is expired, what expires soon and who has nothing on file, and emails the cook or server and the manager at 60, 30 and 7 days. The Food service pack adds the usual types in one click.
Yes. Use the Alcohol service certificate type, or add a type named for your local permit, and record the number and the date on the card. Who must hold one, and what it is called, depends on your state, county or province, so LeaveCalc stores what you enter and reminds the right people before it lapses.
It depends on where you operate. State, county and provincial health authorities decide whether a card is needed, who may issue it and how long it lasts, so there is no single answer. The pack starts at 36 months as an editable default. Always enter the date printed on the card itself.
The Food service pack has four types: Food handler certificate, Food safety manager, Alcohol service certificate and Allergen training. You can add others, such as a county worker card or fire safety training, and set a renewal period for each.
The cook, server or bartender, if they have an email on file, and the owner and managers who look after them. Managers get one grouped email a day, not one per card. A manager limited to the kitchen sees and hears about the kitchen only.
Mark a type as required for Kitchen, Floor or any department you set up. Anyone in it with no current record shows as Missing the day they are added, in the list, the matrix and on the Today page. Staff who have left are left out of the counts.
The free certification tracker Excel template works for one restaurant: list the card types, log each person's dates and see who holds what in a matrix. A spreadsheet cannot send reminders. LeaveCalc is free for up to 3 people if you want the emails.
No. LeaveCalc records the dates you enter and reminds people. It does not know what your local health department or liquor authority requires, does not check a card with the issuer and gives no regulatory advice. Rules differ by state, county and country, so confirm yours with the authority that issues the cards.
Also see
Stop finding out at the bar check.
Free for up to 3 people, no card. Add the food service pack, add your staff and let the reminders do the chasing.