# Food safety certificates

Keep food handler cards and food protection manager certificates on file with their expiry dates, see who is missing one or due at each location, and get reminders before a card expires.

For: Admins, Managers, Employees · On: Web, iOS, Android · [Help Center](https://www.mays.app/help) › [Team & roles](https://www.mays.app/help/team-roles) · Last updated October 5, 2026 · Mays Team

Mays keeps each team member's food handler card, food protection manager certificate and other credentials on file with their expiry dates. Each location shows who is missing a card, who is due or overdue, and whose card is about to expire, against what that location's state or county asks for. Mays reminds the team member and their managers before a certificate expires.

**Mays helps you comply; it isn't legal advice.** The rules come from official sources, and each location links the source it read. Check it for your own situation.

**Turn it on first.** Certificates are part of **Labor law compliance**, which is off until an admin turns it on for your organization in **Settings → Organization**. After that, **Food safety certificates** is on at every location unless an admin turns it off on the location's **Labor & compliance** card (see [Labor & compliance](https://www.mays.app/help/time-clock/labor-compliance)). While it's off, a team member's page has no **Certificates** tab, the location has no **Food safety certificates** panel, the schedule gives no food safety warning, no certificate reminders go out, and **My certificates** isn't in the app. The certificates you entered are kept for when it's turned back on.

## What each location checks

A location's rule comes from its address. Where a county or health district sets its own food safety rule (Maricopa County in Arizona, the Southern Nevada Health District, Teton County in Wyoming), an admin picks it on the location, because Mays never guesses a county from the city.

| What the rules ask for | Examples | What Mays shows |
| --- | --- | --- |
| A food handler card for every food employee, by a deadline after hire | California, Florida, Illinois, Oregon, Texas, Washington | Each scheduled team member's status: valid, expiring, expired, missing and due on a date, overdue, or hire date not set |
| A certified food protection manager | Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania | Whether someone at the location holds a valid manager certificate |
| A certified person on every shift | Hawaii, the District of Columbia | The same, plus a warning on the schedule before you publish |
| Nothing in our data yet | Many other states | The certificates you keep, with reminders, and no statuses |

The deadline after hire is the official figure: for example 30 days in California and 60 days in Florida. The Southern Nevada Health District requires the card before someone starts work, so there a missing card is due on the hire date, and the location's rule reads "within 0 days of hire". Where the source gives no single figure (Washington, for example), the location says **Deadline after hire: not in our data yet — check the official source**, and a missing card shows as **Missing** with no due date.

## Add a certificate

Managers and admins add certificates on the web. A manager can do this for people at their own locations; an admin for everyone.

1. Go to **Locations & Users → Users** and open the team member.
2. Go to the **Certificates** tab and click **Add certificate**.
3. Choose the type (**Food handler card**, **Food protection manager (CFPM)**, **Alcohol server**, **Allergen training** or **Other**), then enter the name, the issuer, the certificate number if there is one, and the issue and expiry dates. Tick **Never expires** for a certificate with no expiry.
4. Optionally attach a photo or PDF of the card.
5. Click **Save**.

![The Add certificate dialog with a food handler card issued Sep 20, 2026 and the hint that cards in California are valid 3 years](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__food-safety-certificates__02-add-certificate.f7817a91d7.png)

Where the location's state says how long a card is valid, Mays offers that expiry date as a suggestion (**Use Sep 20, 2029**). Check it against the date printed on the card.

To change or remove a certificate, use the pencil or bin next to it.

## The Certificates tab on a team member's page

![Nia Park's page on the Certificates tab: hire date not set with their first clock-in date and a Set it on the Employment tab link, the North Beach rule with its source, and an alcohol server certificate that expires in 12 days](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__food-safety-certificates__01-team-member-certificates.003f252630.png)

- **Hire date.** The card deadline counts from the hire date, which you set on the team member's **Employment** tab. If it isn't set, the status is **Hire date not set**, and Mays shows the day of their first approved clock-in to help you fill it in. **Set it on the Employment tab** takes you straight to the field. Mays never uses that date on its own.
- **Each location** the person works at, with what its rule asks for, a link to the official source and the person's status there.
- **Doesn't handle food.** Someone who never handles food, such as a host, can be left out of the food handler card check. Click **Mark as not handling food** and give a reason. Their other certificates still get reminders.
- **The certificates**, each with its status: **Valid until …**, **Expires in 12 days**, **Expires today**, **Expired …** or **No expiry**.

## The location's Food safety certificates panel

Go to **Locations & Users → Locations**, open a location and go to the **Scheduling** tab. The **Food safety certificates** panel sits under **Labor & compliance**.

![The North Beach panel in California: counts by status, then each team member with their hire date and food handler card status, from overdue to valid](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__food-safety-certificates__03-location-panel-california.9014ed0c23.png)

Where every food employee needs a card, the panel lists everyone on the location's schedule, worst first. Click a name to open their **Certificates** tab.

| Status | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| **Missing — overdue since …** | No card, and the deadline after their hire date has passed |
| **Expired …** | Their newest card has expired |
| **Missing — due …** | No card yet, still within the deadline |
| **Hire date not set** | No card, and no hire date to count the deadline from. **Use … (first clock-in)** fills it in from their first approved clock-in |
| **Expires in … days** | The card expires within 30 days |
| **Valid until …** | The card lasts more than 30 days |
| **Doesn't handle food** | Left out of the check, with the reason on their page |

Where the rule is a certified food protection manager, the panel shows **Met**, **Expiring within 30 days** or **Missing**, and who holds a valid certificate.

![The Buckhead panel in Georgia: the location needs a certified food protection manager, and the status is Missing](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__food-safety-certificates__04-location-panel-manager-missing.d6ae2bb30e.png)

## A certified person on every shift (Hawaii, the District of Columbia)

Where the rule asks for a certified person during all operating hours, a food handler card or a food protection manager certificate counts. In the District of Columbia, DC Health asks for a certified food protection manager, so check that the person covering each stretch holds a manager certificate, not only a food handler card. Before you publish, the schedule's **review before publishing** banner shows a **FOOD SAFETY** row for any stretch when people are on shift but nobody on shift has a valid certificate on file. It's a warning: you can still publish.

![The schedule's review banner with two FOOD SAFETY rows for Friday, 6am–9am and 5pm–10pm, and the Publish button still available](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__food-safety-certificates__05-schedule-food-safety-warning.034435a271.png)

## Reminders

Each morning at about 9 AM location time, Mays sends a push and a notification in the app:

- to the team member, 30 days and 7 days before a certificate expires, and on the day it expires;
- to the team member, a week before a missing food handler card is due after their hire date;
- to the location's managers, one message listing the same cards for their team.

Each reminder goes out once. If you enter a renewed card with a new expiry date, its reminders start again.

## On the phone

Team members see their own certificates in the Mays app under **Profile → My certificates**, with each one's status. The list is read-only: to add or renew a card, they give it to their manager.

![My certificates on iPhone: an expired alcohol server certificate, a food handler card that expires in 7 days and a valid allergen training certificate](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__food-safety-certificates__06-iphone-my-certificates.9111272d4e.png)

## Good to know

- Certificates from Mays training modules are proof of your own training, not a state food handler card or manager certificate. Record official cards here.
- Only a food handler card counts for the every-employee check, not a manager certificate.
- A county or district rule applies only after an admin picks it on the location.
- A location whose time zone is outside the US gets no US rule. Its team's certificates are still kept, with their expiry reminders.
- Team members can't add a card from the phone yet.

## Related articles

- Time clock: [Labor & compliance (per location)](https://www.mays.app/help/time-clock/labor-compliance) — Where: Locations & Users → Locations → a location → Scheduling tab → Labor & compliance card.
- Team & roles: [Add and invite team members](https://www.mays.app/help/team-roles/add-team-members) — Add people on the web or from the app. Employees get a text with a link to the app; managers and admins get an email to set a password. Plus resending invites and checking delivery.
- Scheduling: [Publishing the schedule and notifying staff](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/publish-the-schedule) — Your team only sees a week once you publish it. Check the warnings, choose who gets notified, publish — and republish, undo or clear a week when plans change.
- Knowledge & training: [Training certificates](https://www.mays.app/help/knowledge-training/training-certificates) — When someone passes a compliance-critical module for the first time, Mays creates a PDF certificate with their name, score and date. Admins set the certificate's look under Learning → Settings.
- Knowledge & training: [Creating training modules](https://www.mays.app/help/knowledge-training/create-learning-modules) — Turn your knowledge base articles and documents into a short quiz. The AI drafts the questions from your own text, you review and edit them, then publish the module for your team.
- Mobile apps: [Your profile in the app](https://www.mays.app/help/mobile-apps/mobile-profile-and-account) — Tap your picture in the Mays app to open Profile. Change your photo, switch organization, see your kiosk PIN, choose notifications, sign out or delete your account.

## Still need help?

Send us a support request and a real person on the Mays team will get back to you.

[Contact support](https://www.mays.app/contact?topic=support) · [Call +1 (561) 286-3939](tel:+15612863939)

Canonical: https://www.mays.app/help/team-roles/food-safety-certificates