(a) General rule.--A retail food facility shall have at least one employee who holds a valid certificate present at the retail food facility or immediately accessible at all hours of operation and who is the person in charge of the retail food facility when physically present and on duty.

(a.1) Multiple retail food facilities.--

(1) Except as provided under paragraph (2), a person who meets the requirements of subsection (a) may only be the required certified employee for a single retail food facility.

(2) If a proprietor operates more than one retail food facility at a temporary fair, festival or other temporary event, a person who meets the requirements of subsection (a) may be the certified employee for all of those temporary retail food establishments.

(a.2) Federal recommended standards.--Notwithstanding this chapter, if, after the effective date of this subsection, the Food Code published by the United States Department of Health, Food and Drug Administration, recommends that a person in charge hold a certificate or recommends that a certificate holder with supervisory authority be present during hours of operation at a retail food facility, the department shall, by regulation, establish this recommended standard as the standard for retail food facilities.

(b) (Reserved).

(c) Compliance.--

(1) (Reserved).

(2) A retail food facility exempt under section 6510(d) (relating to exemptions) may voluntarily seek certification under this section.

(3) Except as provided in section 6510, compliance with this chapter by a retail food facility shall be mandatory.

(d) Employee turnover.--Retail food facilities which are not in compliance because of employee turnover or other loss of certified employees shall have three months from the date of loss of certified employees to comply.

(e) Maintenance and inspection of records.--Names and certificate numbers of certified employees shall be maintained at the place of business and shall be made available to and shall be inspected by:

(1) the department for retail food facilities that are licensed under Subchapter A of Chapter 57 (relating to retail food facility safety) by the department; or

(2) the licensor for retail food facilities that are licensed under Subchapter A of Chapter 57 by a licensor that is not the department.

(f) Period of certification.--Certification shall be in effect for the certification interval prescribed by the accredited certification program described in section 6503(c) (relating to certification programs). Renewal of certification shall be based on the successful completion of the certification requirements of an accredited certification program as described in section 6503(c).

(g) (Reserved).

(h) (Reserved).

(Dec. 20, 2000, P.L.934, No.124, eff. 60 days; Dec. 9, 2002, P.L.1495, No.190, eff. imd.; Nov. 23, 2010, P.L.1039, No.106, eff. 60 days)

Cross References. Section 6504 is referred to in section 6510 of this title.