Chapter 5.54 — HOTEL WORKER SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

The purpose of this Chapter is to protect the safety of hotel employees in the City. Hotel employees who work by themselves are vulnerable to crimes and other threatening behavior, including sexual assault. This Chapter enables hotel workers to protect their safety by requiring that hotel employers provide workers who clean guest rooms with panic buttons which they may use to report threatening conduct by a hotel guest and other emergencies. Many instances of sexual assault go unreported to the police. This Chapter also includes provisions that support hotel employees' ability to report criminal and threatening guest behavior to the proper authorities.

(ORD-18-0028 § 1, 2018)

A.

"Emergency" means an immediate threat to public safety or of substantial risk of property loss or destruction.

B.

"Guest" means registered guests, others occupying guest rooms with registered guests, and visitors invited to guest rooms by a registered guest or other occupant of a guest room.

C.

"Guest room" means a room made available by a hotel for transient occupancy, consistent with Long Beach Municipal Code section 18.70.030.

D.

"Hotel" means structures as defined by Long Beach Municipal Code section 9.02.080, or suites of rooms, and includes motels as defined by Long Beach Municipal Code section 21.15.1800. "Hotel" also includes any contracted, leased, or sublet premises connected to or operated in conjunction with the building's purpose, or providing services at the building. However, "hotel" shall not include short-term residential rentals (such as AirBnb, VRBO, Homeaway, Flipkey, and others), or bed and breakfast establishments meeting the conditions set forth in Section 21.52.209 of this Code.

E.

"Hotel employee" means any individual: (1) who is employed directly by the hotel employer or by a person who has contracted with the hotel employer to provide services at a hotel in the City; and (2) who was hired to or did work an average 5 hours/week for 4 weeks at one or more hotels.

F.

"Hotel employer" means a person who owns, controls, and/or operates a hotel in the City of Long Beach, or a person who owns, controls, and/or operates any contracted, leased, or sublet premises connected to or operated in conjunction with the hotel's purpose, or a person, other than an hotel employee, who provides services at the hotel.

G.

"Panic button" means an emergency electronic contact device carried by a hotel employee by which the hotel employee may summon immediate on-scene assistance from a security guard or other person employed by the hotel.

H.

"Person" means an individual, corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, limited liability company, business trust, estate, trust, association, joint venture, agency, instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity, whether domestic or foreign.

(ORD-19-0005 § 1, 2019; ORD-18-0028 § 1, 2018)

A.

Panic buttons. A hotel employer shall provide a panic button to each hotel employee assigned to work in a guest room without other employees present, regardless of job classification, at no cost to the hotel employee. It is recognized that because of the varying size and physical layout of each hotel, different devices may be appropriate for different hotels. A hotel employee may use the panic button if the hotel employee reasonably believes there is an ongoing crime, threatening behavior, or other emergency in the hotel employee's presence. The hotel employee may cease work and leave the immediate area of danger to await the arrival of assistance.

B.

Hotel employees' rights.

The hotel employer must allow guest room doors to be left open during cleaning. Nothing herein shall prevent a hotel employee from voluntarily electing to keep a guest room door closed during cleaning as the hotel employee sees fit.

A hotel employee who brings to the attention of a hotel employer the occurrence or violence or threatening behavior, including but not limited to indecent exposure, solicitation, assault, or coercive sexual conduct by a guest shall be afforded the following rights:

a.

If the hotel employee reasonably believes that his or her safety is at risk and so requests, the hotel employee shall be reassigned to a different work area, away from the person who is alleged to have engaged in the violence or threatening behavior for the duration of any continued occupancy by the person at the hotel;

b.

The hotel employer shall immediately allow the affected hotel employee sufficient time to contact the police and provide a police statement; and

c.

The hotel employer shall cooperate with any investigation into the incident undertaken by the law enforcement agency with jurisdiction.

d.

No person shall discharge, reduce in compensation, increase workload, impose fees or charges, change duties or otherwise take adverse action against any hotel employee for opposing any practice proscribed by this Chapter, for participating in proceedings related to this Chapter, for seeking to enforce his or her rights under this Chapter by any lawful means, or for otherwise asserting rights under this Chapter. A person terminating or taking any other adverse action against any hotel employee who has engaged in any of the foregoing activities within one (1) year preceding the termination or other adverse action shall provide

to the hotel employee at or before the time of the termination or other adverse action a detailed written statement of the reason or reasons for the termination or other adverse action including all the facts substantiating the reason or reasons and all facts known to the person that contradict the substantiating facts.

e.

Each hotel employer shall give written notification to each current hotel employee, and to each new hotel employee at the time of hire, of his or her rights under this Section. The notification shall be in each language spoken by more than ten (10) hotel employees.

(ORD-19-0005 § 2, 2019; ORD-18-0028 § 1, 2018)

Any hotel containing fifty (50) or more guest rooms, or suites of rooms, operating under an existing business license on the effective date of this Chapter shall be brought into full compliance with the provisions of this Chapter, not later than six (6) months following the effective date of this Chapter. All other hotels containing less than fifty (50) guest rooms, or suites of rooms, operating under an existing business license on the effective date of this Chapter shall be brought into full compliance with the provisions of this Chapter, not later than twelve (12) months following the effective date of this Chapter.

(ORD-18-0028 § 1, 2018)

If any provision or application of this Chapter is declared illegal, invalid or inoperative, in whole or in part, by any court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions and portions thereof shall remain in full force or effect. The courts are hereby authorized to reform the provisions in this Chapter in order to preserve its maximum permissible effect.

(ORD-18-0028 § 1, 2018)

These provisions are not intended to abrogate or impair the provisions of any other section of this Code which is not in conflict with the provisions of this Chapter. However, in the event of a conflict between the provisions of this Chapter and the provisions of any other ordinance, the provisions of the Code that establish the more stringent, superior or higher standards shall control.

(ORD-18-0028 § 1, 2018)