|
On June 21, 2022, the City of Los Angeles City Council tentatively adopted a Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance. Following extensive organizing efforts, led by the UNITE HERE! Local 11 labor union, the initiative collected more than 100,000 signatures, sufficient to place the Ordinance in front of City Council and qualify for the November ballot. The City Council had the option to either adopt the Ordinance without alteration or submit it as a ballot initiative in November. While the Ordinance was approved on a 10-3 vote for immediate adoption, the issue will return to council next week for a final vote because the vote was not unanimous. The Ordinance will become effective 30 days after it is approved and signed by Mayor Eric Garcetti.
The Ordinance mirrors those already in place in the cities of West Hollywood, Santa Monica, and Long Beach, requiring panic buttons, daily workload limitations for room attendants, and voluntary overtime. However, the Los Angeles version of the Ordinance contains several unique features that hotel employers in the City of Los Angeles should be aware of, including daily room cleaning and sanitizing. The requirements of the Ordinance are described in detail below.
Personal Security Devices (“Panic Buttons”). Hotel employers must provide a personal security device to each hotel worker assigned to work alone in a guest room or restroom facility. A “personal security device” means a portable emergency contact device (e.g., panic button) that provides direct contact between the hotel worker and a security guard or manager. Hotel workers may activate the device whenever they reasonably believe there is a threat or emergency in their presence. Hotels must have a designated and assigned security guard to receive alerts from the devices and provide immediate on-scene assistance upon activation. Additionally, a notice must be placed on the back of the entrance door to each guest room and restroom facility informing guests that the hotel provides personal security devices to its employees.
Hotel workers who report threatening conduct by guests are provided with certain rights, including paid time to report the conduct to law enforcement or consult with a counselor and reasonable accommodations such as a modified work schedule or reassignment.
In addition, hotel employers must provide annual training to hotel workers on how to use personal security devices, the hotel’s protocol for responding to activation of the devices, and the rights of hotel workers under the Ordinance. The initial training must be provided within 30 days of the effective date of the Ordinance and within one month of a hotel worker’s date of hire.
Workload Limitations for Room Attendants. Hotels with 45 or more guest rooms are subject to workload limitations for room attendants. For hotels with 45 to 59 guest rooms, room attendants receive double time for all hours worked during the day if they clean more than 4,000 square feet in eight hours. For hotels with 60 or more guest rooms, the daily cap is set at 3,500 square feet. The cap is prorated based on how many hours a room attendant works in a workday and if a room attendant cleans a room jointly with other room attendants. Any written assignment of rooms provided to room attendants must state the actual square footage of each room. Furthermore, the square footage limit will be reduced under the following circumstances:
- If a room attendant is assigned any combination of six or more “special-attention” rooms (i.e., a checkout room or guest room where the occupant declined room cleaning on the immediately preceding day) or “additional bedrooms” (i.e., a guest room with an additional bed, such as a cot or rollaway bed), the square footage cap is reduced by 500 square feet for each special-attention room or additional bedroom over five.
- If a room attendant cleans in more than one building during a workday, the square footage cap is reduced by 500 square feet for each additional building.
- If a room attendant cleans on more than two floors, the square footage cap is reduced by 500 square feet for each additional floor.
Voluntary Overtime. Hotels with 45 or more guest rooms must obtain written consent before requiring a hotel worker to work more than ten hours in a workday. The consent is invalid unless the employer first advises the hotel worker in writing that they may decline to work over ten hours and will not be subject to any adverse employment action for doing so.
Daily Room Sanitizing and Cleaning. A provision unique to the Los Angeles version of the Ordinance, Hotels with 45 or more guest rooms cannot implement a policy or program where guest rooms are not sanitized and cleaned after each night they are occupied. Further, the Ordinance prohibits implementation of programs where guests receive a financial incentive for declining daily room cleaning. Hotels may still implement sustainable environmental programs and guests may continue to opt-out of cleaning services, without solicitation by the hotel.
Record Keeping. Hotel employers must maintain a record of each room attendant’s name, rate of pay, pay received, identification of rooms cleaned, actual square footage of each room cleaned, number of “special-attention” rooms, number of additional hotel buildings, number of “additional bedrooms,” total square footage cleaned for each workday, overtime hours worked each workday, and any written consents to overtime for a period of three years. Moreover, hotel employers must maintain an accurate record of the square footage of each room that room attendants are assigned to clean and provide a copy to any hotel worker upon request.
Notice. Hotel employers must provide notice of hotel workers’ rights under the Ordinance within 30 days of its effective date or at the time of hire. The notice must be in English, Spanish, and any other language spoken by at least 10% of the workforce.
Steep Penalties for Violations. Both the employing entities and hotel owners are liable for violations of the Ordinance. The Ordinance imposes joint liability on hotel owners, employing entities, staffing agencies, and professional employer organizations. Violations of the Ordinance carry severe penalties, including statutory damages of $100 per aggrieved person per day and treble damages for willful violations. The Ordinance also allows prevailing plaintiffs to recover attorneys’ fees and costs.
Collective Bargaining Agreement and Hardship Waivers. The requirements of the Ordinance may be waived pursuant to a clear and unambiguous waiver in a collective bargaining agreement. Additionally, Hotel employers may receive a one-year exemption if they demonstrate that compliance with the Ordinance would require them to reduce the workforce by over 20% or curtail total hours by more than 30% in order to avoid bankruptcy or a shutdown of the hotel.
| 
