WHAT CONSTITUTES AN ILLEGAL DRINK SPECIAL?

It is well known among patrons of Massachusetts bars that “Happy Hour” is an after-work concept that does not exist in the Commonwealth.  Discounted drinks for a period in the afternoon cannot be found as restaurants and bars are prohibited, under Massachusetts law, from offering time-sensitive discounted alcoholic beverages.

Regulation 204 CMR 4.03(1) prohibits certain practices, including making drinks available to the public for a price less than that regularly charged for such drinks during the same calendar week.  This means, in general terms, drink specials must run for a minimum of one-week, and be available at the special price during all times the licensed establishment is operating during that week.

Other prohibited practices include:

1.  Offering free drinks to any person or group of persons;

2.  Delivering more than two drinks to one person at a time;

3.  Offering an unlimited amount of drinks to any person during any set period of

      time for a fixed price (for example, all you can drink for 40 dollars for, say, three

      hours)

4.  Offering special prices on drinks to any person or group of persons, but not to the

     general public on that day;

5.  Selling drinks by the pitcher to one person at a time;

6.  Increasing the amount of alcohol in a drink without proportionally increasing the

      price;

7.   Encouraging or permitting drinking games or alcoholic beverages to be the prize

       for winning some kind of game on premises.

Exceptions exist, however, in the case of private functions not open to the public.

For more information on penalties for violating the “happy hour” law, see our blog post entitled, What Kind of Penalties Are Imposed for Offering Drink Specials, at https://www.connelllawoffices.com/what-kind-of-penalties-are-imposed-for-offering-drink-specials/

 

Contributed by Robin E. Sosnow