July 2022: The City of Los Angeles Passes Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance

Update Applicable to:
All employers of hotels in the city of Los Angeles, California.

What happened?
On June 28, 2022, the Los Angeles City Council passed the “Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance” (HWPO), which increases safety protections for hotel workers in hotels, limits their daily workload, and raises their wages.

What are the details?

Personal Security Devices
Under the HWPO, hotel employers within the City of Los Angeles must provide employees with personal security devices, commonly referred to as “panic buttons,” when assigned to work in a guest room or restroom facility where other workers are not assigned to be present. Hotel employers must provide annual training on using the devices.

Hotel employers shall at all times have a designated and assigned security guard who can receive alerts from the device and can provide on-scene assistance. Hotels with fewer than 60 guest rooms may train a hotel supervisor or manager to fulfill this function in lieu of a security guard.

The HWPO also provides certain rights to hotel employees who report violent or threatening conduct by hotel guests, including reasonable accommodation and paid time off to report such incidents to law enforcement.

Workload and Hours Limitations
HWPO puts limitations on the amount of square footage that hotel employees can be required to clean on a particular workday without triggering wage premiums. The amounts vary based on the size of the hotel and whether any of the space consists of “special-attention” rooms.  Hotel employers also must maintain records, in addition to standardly required records for all California employers, such as the square footage of all rooms cleaned on a daily basis, for at least three years.

Under HWPO, hotel employers may not require workers to work more than 10 hours in a workday unless the worker consents in writing to do so.

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 is spoken by at least 10% of the workforce.

Mayor Garcetti is anticipated to sign the ordinance, which would then take effect 30 days later.

For more information, please see the links below:

Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance

Article 1 – Article 2

What do employers need to do?
Employers should review the links provided above, implement annual training for employees using private security devices, provide the necessary required items above, and provide written notice of the rights outlined in the ordinance to employees at the time of hire to ensure they are in compliance with the city law once signed by the mayor.