The city of Glendale (the city) enacted a hotel worker protection ordinance (the HWPO) that requires hotel employers to provide measures to protect hotel workers from violent or threatening behavior, and to afford fair compensation for workload, including workload limitations, proration, voluntary overtime payment and records preservation. The HWPO also reintroduces a previously established minimum wage rate for hotel workers.
For more information on the HWPO, you may visit the city's website, or you may contact the city's 24-hour hotline at 818-550-4400.
A covered hotel employer under the HWPO is any person who owns, controls or operates a hotel in the city, including any person or contractor who, in a managerial, supervisory or confidential capacity, employs hotel workers to provide services at a hotel in conjunction with the hotel's purpose.1
A "hotel" is an establishment that provides temporary lodging for payment in the form of overnight accommodations in guest rooms to transient patrons for periods of 30 consecutive calendar days or less. Additionally, a hotel may offer supplementary services including conference and meeting rooms, restaurants, bars, or recreation facilities available to guests or to the public. Types of hotels include:
A “hotel” generally does not include corporate housing, rooming houses, boarding houses, single-room occupancy housing, or licensed bed and breakfast establishments within a single-unit residence.3
“Hotel workers” entitled to the rights and protections of the HWPO are any persons employed by a hotel employer to provide services at a hotel. Managerial, supervisory or confidential employees of a hotel employer are not hotel workers for the purposes of the HWPO.4
The Glendale HWPO states that hotel workers are required to receive an hourly wage at no less than the hourly wage rate paid to hotel workers in Los Angeles, as set by city of Los Angeles Municipal Code section 186.02 (or its subsequent versions), subject to any yearly adjustments, also excluding tips, service charge disbursements and bonuses.5
Future rate changes will be made annually to match the hourly wage set for hotel workers in Los Angeles and shall take effect on July 1 of each year6
A hotel employer must provide, and maintain in good working order, a personal security device at no cost to each hotel worker assigned to work in a guest room or bathroom that no other hotel worker is assigned to work.7 The personal security device must be a portable emergency contact device, such as a panic button, that promptly directs assistance to the hotel worker's location by providing direct contact with the hotel worker and a hotel security officer, manager or supervisor designated to respond to violent or threatening conduct.8
A hotel employer must have a designated security guard, manager or supervisory hotel staff member available at all times to monitor and immediately respond to any personal security device activations, subject to specific training requirements discussed below.9
A hotel worker may activate a personal security device when they have a reasonable belief that violent or threatening conduct or an emergency is occurring in the hotel worker's presence.10 Violent or threatening conduct includes the use, attempt or threat of physical violence, or any sexual conduct or solicitation directed toward a hotel worker without the hotel worker's consent.11
The HWPO authorizes a hotel worker to cease work immediately and leave the area prior to or upon activation of the personal security device to await assistance.12 No hotel worker may be subject to an adverse employment action such as termination, reduced wages or work hours, altered work schedules, or increased workloads for ceasing work under these conditions unless there is clear and convincing evidence the hotel worker knowingly and intentionally made a false claim of an emergency.13
The HWPO provides for various rights and protections to hotel workers who bring violent or threatening conduct to their employer's attention.
Hotel employers must immediately provide sufficient paid time off to the hotel worker to report the incident to law enforcement and to consult with a counselor or advisor of the hotel worker's choice.14
Upon request, a hotel employer must provide a hotel worker with a reasonable accommodation related to the violent or threatening conduct. Reasonable accommodations may include a modified work schedule, reassignment to a vacant position or other reasonable adjustment to job structure, workplace facility or work requirements.15
A hotel employer can neither prevent or attempt to prevent a hotel worker from reporting the violent or threatening conduct to law enforcement, nor retaliate against a hotel worker for choosing not to report the conduct to law enforcement.16
The HWPO requires hotel employers to provide comprehensive training to hotel workers on the following:
Hotel employers must provide initial training by either August 27, 2022, or within one (1) month of the hotel worker's hire date, whichever is later.18
Hotel employers must also provide no less than three (3) hours of comprehensive training to personnel who will be responsible for responding to personal security device activations. This training must include materials on:
This training must be conducted at least annually, and hotel employers must maintain accurate training attendance records for any training required under the HWPO.20
In hotels that have fewer than 40 guest rooms, “room attendants” required to clean more than 4,000 square feet of floor space within an eight-hour shift are entitled to receive compensation at twice their standard hourly rate for the entire duration of their workday.21 A “room attendant” is a hotel worker whose essential duties are to clean and put in order hotel guest rooms.22
In hotels that have 40 or more guest rooms, room attendants assigned to clean more than 3,500 square feet of floor space over the course of an eight-hour shift are entitled to be compensated at a rate twice their normal hourly wage for the full workday.23
When a room attendant is tasked with cleaning six or more checkout rooms or additional bedrooms within an eight-hour workday, the size of each of these rooms will be considered as 500 square feet or their actual size, whichever is larger, for the purpose of calculating the aforementioned workloads. Similarly, each guest room that was occupied but did not receive daily cleaning the previous day is also accounted for in the same manner, being counted as either 500 square feet or their actual size, whichever is greater.24
The established maximum floor space must be reduced proportionately if a room attendant works less than eight hours in a workday or is assigned to perform room cleaning for less than eight hours in a workday. Similarly, the maximum floor space must be proportionately increased if a room attendant works more than eight hours in a workday. When a room attendant jointly cleans rooms with one or more other attendants, the floor space limit must be calculated on a prorated basis per attendant.25
These workload restrictions apply to any combination of spaces, including guest rooms, meeting rooms and other rooms within the hotel, irrespective of the contents or amenities in the rooms.26
Hotel employers cannot require or allow a hotel worker to work more than 10 hours in a single day unless the worker provides written consent. This written consent is only valid if, seven days before giving their consent, the worker is informed in writing that they can refuse to work beyond 10 hours without being subject to any adverse employment action for doing so. This requirement does not apply in emergency situations.27
Hotel employers must provide notice of the HWPO’s requirements to both hotel workers and guests as follows:
Hotel employers must maintain precise records for a minimum of three years for each room attendant, documenting:
These records must be made available to any hotel worker or their representative for review and copying, with the caveat that names and personal information must be redacted, except to the extent that the records identify the hotel worker who is making the request.31
Hotel workers are protected from any adverse action such as termination, reduction in wages or discrimination for opposing any practice prohibited by the HWPO, participating in proceedings relating to the HWPO, seeking to enforce their rights under the HWPO, or otherwise exercising their rights under the HWPO.32
If a hotel employer takes an adverse action against a hotel worker within one year of the hotel worker engaging in a protected activity under the HWPO, the hotel employer must provide to the hotel worker a detailed written statement of the reason(s) for the adverse action, including all facts claimed to substantiate the reason(s).33
The HWPO may be enforced by a civil action filed in superior court.34 The city or an aggrieved person who claims a violation of the HWPO may seek and receive injunctive relief against any person violating the HWPO, monetary damages reflecting the aggrieved person's actual damages, and statutory damages in the amount $100 per aggrieved person per day of violation.35 Statutory damages for failure to maintain or provide records may be capped at $1,000 per day in total; however, any violations found to be willful will triple the amount of damages to be paid.36
The court is also directed to award reasonable attorneys' fees and costs, including expert witness fees, to a successful plaintiff.37 The remedies provided under the HWPO are cumulative and do not restrict or limit the possibility of a separate or concurrent criminal prosecution or under applicable law.38 Additionally, the HWPO does not preclude an aggrieved individual's right to pursue legal action for violations of their protected rights under any other applicable law.39
A hotel employer may apply for a waiver from the HWPO's requirements if it can demonstrate that adhering to the HWPO requirements would result in a reduction of its workforce by more than 20 percent or a reduction of hotel workers' total working hours by more than 30 percent, in order to prevent bankruptcy or closure of the hotel. The city will only issue such a waiver after a thorough review of the hotel employer's financial situation, which must be conducted at the hotel employer's expense, and any waiver obtained will remain valid for no more than one year. The city's decision to approve or reject a waiver application can be appealed to a hearing examiner, following the city's established procedures for such reviews.40
Before applying for a waiver, a hotel employer is required to issue a written notification to all its hotel workers about the submission of its waiver application. Additionally, within three (3) days of receiving the city's decision on the waiver, the hotel employer must provide a written notice of this decision to all its hotel workers.41
1. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.010
2. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.010
3. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.010
4. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.010
5. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.040(B)
6. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.040(C)
7. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.020(A)(1)
8. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.010
9. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.020(A)(3)
10. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.020(A)(2)
11. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.010
12. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.020(A)(2)
13. Glendale Mun. Code secs. 5.120.010, 5.120.020(A)(2)
14. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.020(B)(1)
15. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.020(B)(4)
16. Glendale Mun. Code secs. 5.120.020(B)(2), 5.120.020(B)(3)
17. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.020(D)
18. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.020(D)
19. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.020(A)(3)
20. Glendale Mun. Code secs. 5.120.020(A)(3), 5.120.020(D)
21. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.030(A)
22. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.010
23. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.030(A)
24. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.030(A)
25. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.030(B)
26. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.030(A)
27. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.030(C)
28. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.060
29. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.020(C)
30. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.030(D)
31. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.030(D)
32. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.070
33. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.070
34. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.100(A)
35. Glendale Mun. Code secs. 5.120.100(B), 5.120.100(C)
36. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.100(C)
37. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.100(D)
38. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.100(E)
39. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.100(G)
40. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.050(A)
41. Glendale Mun. Code sec. 5.120.050(B)