Food Handlers Card California: Cost & Requirements
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Most California food handlers need a card within 30 days of hire, valid three years. Since January 1, 2024, the employer pays for it, pays you for the time you spend on it, and cannot require you to already hold one to get the job.
That last part is the piece worth knowing before your next interview, and it is written into statute rather than left to interpretation.
What Health and Safety Code § 113948 actually says
The requirement: a food handler hired on or after June 1, 2011 “shall obtain a food handler card within 30 days after the date of hire,” and “shall maintain a valid food handler card for the duration of the food handler’s employment.”
The term: “Food handler cards shall be valid for three years from the date of issuance, regardless of whether the food handler changes employers.” The card belongs to you, not to the restaurant.
The training: it must come from an ANSI-accredited provider meeting ASTM E2659-09 — roughly a 2.5-hour course, at least 40 questions, 70 percent to pass.
The record-keeping: your facility must keep proof that each food handler holds a valid card and produce it to an enforcement officer on request.
SB 476: what changed in 2024
Senate Bill 476 amended § 113948 effective January 1, 2024. The operative language, quoted in full because employers still get this wrong:
An employer shall consider the time that it takes for the employee to complete the training and the examination as compensable “hours worked,” for which the employer shall pay and, pursuant to Section 2802 of the Labor Code, shall pay the employee for any necessary expenditures or losses associated with the employee obtaining a food handler card. An employer shall relieve an employee of all other work duties while the employee is taking the training course and examination.
And separately: “An employer shall not condition employment on an applicant or employee having an existing food handler card.”
Three obligations, precisely: pay for the course, pay for the time as hours worked, and relieve the employee of other duties while they take it. Note what the statute does not say — it does not require the training happen during a normal shift, only that the time be compensated and duty-free.
If you paid for your own card after January 2024 or took the course unpaid on your own time, that is a reimbursement question you can raise with your employer, and failing that, with the Labor Commissioner’s office.
What it costs, and the clause that could switch the requirement off
California does not set a price. It sets a ceiling, and attaches an unusual consequence to it:
At least one food handler training course and examination shall cost no more than fifteen dollars ($15), including a food handler card. If a food handler training course and examination is not available at that cost, the requirement to obtain a food handler card imposed by this section shall not apply.
In other words, the mandate is conditional on affordability remaining real. The manager-level certification carries a parallel cap at $60 with the same fallback.
CDPH publishes no price list and offers no courses itself. Prices come from the ANSI-accredited providers.
Who is exempt
The statute lists twelve categories of food handler the requirement does not reach, including those employed by certified farmers’ markets, commissaries, grocery stores (including convenience stores, but not separately owned facilities inside them), licensed health care facilities, mobile support units, public and private school cafeterias, restricted food service facilities, confinement facilities, and elderly nutrition programs under the Older Americans Act.
Two exemptions are easy to miss. A facility “subject to a collective bargaining agreement with its food handlers” is exempt. So is a facility providing in-house training approved in another state that adopted the 2001 Model Food Code Subpart 2-103.11, where the training is provided during normal work hours at no cost to the employee.
The three counties that run their own programs
Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego had local programs in place before January 1, 2009, so § 113948(f) exempts them from the statewide card scheme. Their rules differ from the state’s and from each other:
| County | Card term | Deadline after hire | Published cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Bernardino | 3 years | 14 calendar days, if supervised by a certificate holder | $22; 70-minute course, 80% to pass |
| Riverside | 2 years | 7 days | $28 online training or in-person exam |
| San Diego | 3 years | 10 days | County certificate fee $3; renewal is a 3-hour course from a county-approved school |
San Bernardino is explicit that outside cards do not substitute: “Food handler cards from other counties, programs or companies are not an acceptable substitute.” San Diego warns the same way — “Not all courses in California are accepted here.”
Riverside’s two-year term is the outlier in the state, and its seven-day deadline is the tightest. If you work in Riverside County, the statewide three-year card you may have seen advertised is not your rule.
One thing that does follow you into these counties: SB 476. Section 113948(f) exempts local-program counties from the section “except for subdivision (i)” — the employer-pays provision. So the pay rules apply statewide even where the card program does not.
The manager-level certification
Separate credential, separate law. Under § 113947.1, a facility handling non-prepackaged potentially hazardous food must have at least one owner or employee who passed an accredited food safety certification exam. That person may not serve as the certified person for any other facility, and need not be present during all hours. Facilities get 60 days to comply on opening, on change of ownership, or after losing their certified person.
Certificates are valid five years from original issuance, and § 113947.1(h) requires recertification every five years.
Where to check your own situation
- CDPH Food and Drug Branch Retail Food Program: [email protected], (800) 495-3232
- CDPH publishes a local environmental health contact directory — your county is the enforcing agency
- San Bernardino: 1 (800) 442-2283 · Riverside: (888) 722-4234 · San Diego: (858) 505-6900
For the national picture, see our food handler card requirements by state. To test yourself on the material the card course covers, take the free practice quiz.
FAQ
Who pays for a California food handler card?
Your employer, since January 1, 2024, including the time you spend on the course and exam as paid hours worked.
Can an employer require a card before hiring me?
No. Section 113948(i)(2) prohibits conditioning employment on an applicant already having one.
How long is the card valid?
Three years from issuance statewide, and it stays valid when you change employers. Riverside County’s own certificate runs two years.
Does my statewide card work in San Diego or San Bernardino?
Generally no. Both counties state that outside cards are not accepted in place of their own. Check with the county before starting work there.
What if the course costs more than $15?
The statute makes the requirement contingent: if no course and card is available at or under $15, the card requirement does not apply. In practice, accredited providers price to that ceiling.