Plans to improve service, working conditions at Utah liquor stores unveiled

Plans to improve service, working conditions at Utah liquor stores unveiled

(Ray Boone/KSL-TV)


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SALT LAKE CITY — State officials released a 30-day plan Thursday to improve management practices, retail service and the work environment at Utah's liquor stores.

The Governor's Office of Planning and Budget reviewed all 44 state-controlled liquor outlets and interviewed more than 70 employees before coming up with the initial plans. The office will develop more strategies in the coming months.

Immediate plans aim to foster communication and trust between the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control administration and stores, enhance customer service, and better meet consumer demands.

Kristin Cox, planning and budget office director, said a "slew" of complaints bubbling up from employees, customers and restaurants prompted the evaluation. She said there was a communication breakdown between employees and management.

"We want to make sure all our agencies are performing well, so we committed some significant resources to do a deep dive on this," she said.

Current and former workers and Sen. Karen Mayne, D-West Valley City, have criticized DABC the past few months for what they see as poor treatment of workers causing low morale and high turnover. The agency's new centralized ordering system also has hit some snags.

Managers are having to oversee two or three stores, taking them away from assistant managers and clerks, who are often new, for long periods of time. Employees also are being hit with lots of new policies.

Mayne, a longtime fair labor advocate, even attended an alcohol commission meeting earlier this year where she blasted the agency's administrators and accused them of bullying and spying.

"Now that I've poked them, they're moving to see the problem," she said.

Mayne said she appreciates the planning and budget office's efforts, but called the plans "knee-jerk" and "band-aids." DABC, she said, needs longterm stability.


When it comes to our Utah DABC, we haven't nurtured it, and now we have a situation where morale is horrible and the pay is pathetic. For years employees have been afraid to speak out for fear of retaliation, and it's just gotten to a point where we as a government can't tolerate it, nor will the public.

–Sen. Karen Mayne, D-West Valley City


Two weeks ago, she unveiled legislation that would allow the governor to appoint an advocate for employees, alcohol permit holders and others to resolve problems with DABC related to services and responsiveness.

"When it comes to our Utah DABC, we haven't nurtured it, and now we have a situation where morale is horrible and the pay is pathetic," Mayne said earlier this month. "For years employees have been afraid to speak out for fear of retaliation, and it's just gotten to a point where we as a government can't tolerate it, nor will the public."

Changes coming from the governor's office include more emphasis on training of full- and part-time store employees, refining inventory control to reduce product shortages and surplus and initiatives to clear out slow-moving products and replace them with new items.

Cox said the centralized ordering system is a good concept but local stores need flexibility on what to carry or not carry on their shelves.

Mayne also proposed a bill that would adjust the DABC budget to better fund security at stores, create a larger full-time employee base, offer more training and increase worker salaries.

"We're going to revamp this," she said. "Why should we have to revisit this all the time? If good business practices are in place, we won't have to visit this every year."

Former alcohol commission Chairman David Gladwell, whose term on the seven-member panel ended in June, said he favors plowing profits from alcohol sales back into the agency. The money now goes to the state's general fund, school lunch program and public safety.

The planning and budget office intends to look at that issue along with employee salaries as the state starts to put together its budget proposal for the 2016 Legislature, Cox said.

Scathing audits found DABC rife with mismanagement three years ago and led state lawmakers to restructure the agency. Managers are still trying to carry out the recommendations.

"They've made some good positive changes," Cox said. "This is not like a beat up on DABC, but it is continuing to improve."

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