LA County Board

9. Hotel Worker Protections\nRecommendation as submitted by Supervisors Horvath and Solis: Instruct\nCounty Counsel to draft a hotel worker protection ordinance for the\nunincorporated areas of the County that is substantially similar to the hotel\nworker protection ordinances in the cities of West Hollywood, Santa Monica,\nand Los Angeles, and return to the Board with the ordinance , including the\nfollowing protections:\nMandate hotels to provide personal security devices (sometimes known\nas panic buttons) to employees that are required to work in guest rooms\nor restrooms by themselves;\nMandate hotel employers to provide training to hotel workers on the use\nof personal security devices;\nProhibit hotel employers from taking any adverse action against hotel\nemployees who report threats or incidents of violence to law\nenforcement;\nMandate that for hotels with fewer than 40 guest rooms, a hotel employer\nshall not require a room attendant to clean rooms amounting to a total of\nmore than 4,500 sq ft of floor space in any eight-hour workday, unless\nthe hotel employer pays the room attendant twice the room attendant’s\nregular rate of pay for each and every hour worked during the workday;\nfor hotels with 40 or more guest rooms, a hotel employer shall not require\na room attendant to clean rooms amounting to a total of more than 3,500\nsq ft of floor space in any eight-hour workday, unless the hotel employer\npays the room attendant twice the room attendant’s regular rate of pay\nfor each and every hour worked during the workday; if a room attendant\nis assigned to clean seven or more checkout rooms or additional\nbedrooms during any eight-hour workday, each such checkout room or\nadditional bedroom shall , for purposes of this subsection , count as 500\nsq ft, regardless of the actual square footage of each room, with the\nlimitations contained herein to apply to any combination of spaces,\nincluding guest rooms, meeting rooms, and other rooms within the hotel,\nand apply regardless of the furniture, equipment, or amenities in such\nrooms, and the workload amounts set forth above shall be reduced on a\nprorated basis if a room attendant works less than eight hours in a\nworkday, shall be increased on a prorated basis for each hour of\novertime that a room attendant works in excess of eight hours in a\nworkday, and shall be calculated on a prorated basis by room attendant if\na room attendant is assigned to clean rooms jointly with one or more\nother room attendants;\nProhibit hotel employers from mandating hotel workers work over 10\nhours a day unless the hotel worker consents in writing; and\nMandate that hotels contract with a certified Public Housekeeping\nTraining Organization, as defined in the ordinance , at least once a year\nto provide Public Housekeeping Training to new employees, or\nemployees that have not received the training within the last five years ,\nincluding hotel worker rights included in the Hotel Worker Protection\nOrdinance; best practices for identifying and responding to suspected\ninstances of human trafficking, domestic violence, or violent or\nthreatening conduct; best practices for effective cleaning techniques to\nprevent the spread of disease; best practices for identifying and avoiding\ninsect or vermin infestations; and best practices for identifying and\nresponding to the presence of other potential criminal activity; and\nInstruct County Counsel to compare the County’s current “right-to-recall” and\n“worker retention” provisions, that were adopted by the Board in May 2020, with\nthe “right-to-recall” and “worker retention” provisions that are in place in West\nHollywood, Santa Monica, and Los Angeles, and make any revisions to the\nCounty’s provisions that would strengthen them, if they provide less protections\nthen those in West Hollywood, Santa Monica, and Los Angeles, specifically\nfocusing on whether the provisions in the other cities are permanent, not just\nrelated to COVID-19, and if the other cities provide permanent protections,\nthose provisions should be incorporated into the County’s ordinance.\n(23-2863)\nAttachments: Motion by Supervisors Horvath and Solis\nPublic Comment/Correspondence