Amid bitter strike, LA Supervisors weigh hotel worker protections

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Aug. 8, will consider drafting an ordinance requiring hotels in unincorporated areas to provide various protections for workers, including personal protection “panic button” devices and restrictions on daily working hours.

The proposed ordinance would be mirrored after those already in place in cities including Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Long Beach, Glendale and West Hollywood. The city of Los Angeles adopted its ordinance last year after it was submitted through a petition drive initiative backed by members of the Unite Here Local 11 union, which is currently striking against dozens of Southland hotels seeking higher wages and benefits.

“Hotel workers who work by themselves in guest rooms are vulnerable to inappropriate, threatening, and sometimes criminal behavior, including sexual assault,” according to a motion by county Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Hilda Solis. “Ensuring that hotel workers are equipped with personal security devices and supported in their ability to report criminal and threatening behavior to the proper authorities will promote their personal safety from criminal threats and improve public safety overall.”

The motion also contends that hotel housekeepers are often given “overly burdensome room cleaning quotas,” forcing them to work long hours, while other workers are “frequently assigned unexpected and mandatory overtime, which limits their ability to meet family and personal commitments.”

The board motion would instruct county attorneys to draft and return to the board with an ordinance that would require:

— personal security devices for employees who work in guest rooms or restrooms by themselves;

— training for hotel workers on the use of the personal security devices;

— prohibiting hotel employers from taking adverse actions against workers who report threats or violence incidents to law enforcement;

— hotels with less than 40 guest rooms could not require a room attendant to clean rooms amounting to more than 4,500 square feet in an eight-hour workday, unless the worker is paid double their salary for extra hours;

— hotels with 40 or more rooms could not require an attendant to clean rooms amounting to more than 3,500 square feet in any eight-hour workday, unless the worker receives double pay for extra hours;

— preventing workers from working more than 10 hours in a day, unless the worker consents in writing; and

— requiring hotels to contract with a certified Public Housekeeping Training Organization to provide housekeeping training to new employees.

Source: Orange County Register