Oakland Municipal Code Ch. 5.93 Hotel Minimum Wage and Working Conditions

"Additional-Bed Rooms" means a room with additional beds such as cots or roll-aways.

"Checkout" means a room occupied by guests who are ending their stay at the hotel.

"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.

"Guest Room" means a room made available by a hotel for transient occupancy, within the meaning of Oakland Municipal Code section 4.24.020.

"Hotel" means structures as defined by Oakland Municipal Code Section 4.24.020, and containing fifty (50) or more guest rooms, or suites of rooms. "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.

"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 of Oakland; and

(2) Who was hired to or did work an average of five (5) hours/week for four (4) weeks at one (1) or more hotels.

"Hotel Employer" means a person who owns, controls, and/or operates a hotel in the City of Oakland, 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 a hotel employee, who provides services at the hotel.

"Panic Button" means an emergency contact device carried by the hotel employee which allows him or her in the event of an ongoing crime, threat, or other emergency to alert another employee or security guard responsible for providing immediate on-scene assistance.

"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.

"Room Cleaner" means a hotel employee whose principal duties are to clean and put in order residential guest rooms in a hotel, regardless of who employs the person.

"Workday" means a twenty-four-hour period beginning at 12:00 a.m. and ending at 11:59 p.m.

(Res. No. 87287, § 1, 7-24-2018)

A. Purpose. 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, among other measures, 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.

B. Each hotel employee assigned to work in a guest room or bathroom without other employees present shall be provided by the hotel employer, at no cost to the hotel employee, a panic button.

1. If a hotel employee encounters a situation necessitating his or her use of the panic button as described above, the hotel employee may cease working and remove him/herself from the situation to await the arrival of the employee or security guard responsible for providing immediate assistance. No hotel employee may be disciplined for ceasing work under these circumstances.

2. No hotel employee may be disciplined for use of a panic button absent clear and convincing evidence the hotel employee knowingly and intentionally made a false claim of emergency.

C. A hotel employee who brings to the attention of a hotel employer the occurrence of 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.

1. 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 floor, or, if none is available for his or her job classification, a different work area, away from the person who is alleged to have engaged in the violence or threatening behavior, for the entire duration of the person's stay at the hotel;

2. The hotel employer shall immediately allow the affected hotel employee sufficient paid time to contact the police and provide a police statement and to consult with a counselor or advisor of the hotel employee's choosing; the hotel employer will permit, but may never require, the complaining hotel employee to report an incident involving alleged criminal conduct by a guest to the law enforcement agency with jurisdiction; and

3. The hotel employer shall cooperate with any investigation into the incident undertaken by the law enforcement agency and/or any attorney for the complaining hotel employee.

D. Each hotel shall place a sign on the back of each guestroom door, written in a font size of no less than eighteen (18) points, that includes the heading "The Law Protects Hotel Housekeepers and Employees From Threatening Behavior," a citation to this Chapter of the Oakland Municipal Code, and notice of the fact that the hotel is providing panic buttons to its housekeepers, room servers, and other hotel employees assigned to work in guest rooms without other employees present, in compliance with this Chapter.

(Res. No. 87287, § 1, 7-24-2018)

A. Purpose. Hotel employees who clean guest rooms are frequently assigned overly burdensome room cleaning quotas and unexpected overtime, which undermines the public interest in ensuring that hotel room cleaners can perform their work in a manner that adequately protects public health and interferes with their ability to meet family and personal obligations. This provision assures that workers receive fair compensation when their workload assignments exceed proscribed limits and prohibits hotel employers from assigning hotel employees overtime work when their shifts exceed ten (10) hours in a day, except in emergency situations, without obtaining workers' informed consent.

B. A hotel employer shall not require a room cleaner to clean rooms amounting to more than four thousand (4,000) square feet of floor space, or more than the maximum floor space otherwise specified in this Section, in any one (1), eight-hour workday unless the hotel employer pays the room cleaner twice his or her regular rate of pay for all hours worked by the room cleaner during the workday. If a room cleaner works fewer than eight (8) hours in a workday, the maximum floor space shall be reduced on a prorated basis. When a room cleaner during a workday is assigned to clean any combination of seven (7) or more checkout rooms or additional-bed rooms, the maximum floor space to be cleaned shall be reduced by five hundred (500) square feet for each such checkout or additional-bed room over six (6). The limitations contained herein apply to any combination of spaces, including guest rooms and suites, meeting rooms or hospitality rooms, and apply regardless of the furniture, equipment or amenities in any rooms.

C. A hotel employer shall not suffer or permit a hotel employee to work more than ten (10) hours in any workday unless the hotel employee consents. Consents must be written and signed by the hotel employee or communicated electronically through an account or number particular to the hotel employee. No consent is valid unless the hotel employer has advised the hotel employee in writing not more than thirty (30) days preceding the consent that the hotel employee may decline to work more than ten (10) hours in any workday and that the hotel employer will not subject the hotel employee to any adverse action for declining. Such notice shall be provided in each language spoken by more than ten (10) percent or ten (10) hotel employees at the hotel, whichever is less. An assignment in excess of ten (10) hours in a workday due to an emergency situation shall not violate this Section. For purposes of this Section, an "emergency situation" shall mean an immediate threat to public safety or of substantial risk of property loss or destruction.

(Res. No. 87287, § 1, 7-24-2018)

A. Effective July 1, 2019, hotel employers shall pay hotel employees a wage of no less than fifteen dollars ($15.00) per hour with health benefits, not including gratuities, service charge distributions, or bonuses, or twenty dollars ($20.00) per hour without health benefits, not including gratuities, service charge distributions, or bonuses.

B. Health benefits under this Section shall consist of the payment of the difference between the higher wage and lower wage under Section 5.93.040(A) towards the provision of health care benefits for hotel employees and their dependents. Proof of the provision of these benefits must be kept on file by the hotel employer, if applicable.

C. The wage rates set forth in this Section shall be adjusted for inflation annually in the manner set forth in Section 5.92.020(B).

(Res. No. 87287, § 1, 7-24-2018)

A. Each hotel employer shall preserve for at least three (3) years:

1. For each room cleaner, a record of his or her name, pay rates received, and the rooms (or at the hotel employer's option, total amount of square footage) each cleaned each workday;

2. A record of the written consents it received from hotel employees to work more than ten (10) hours during a shift; and

3. For each hotel employee, a record of his or her name, hours worked, pay rate, and proof of health benefits consistent with Section 5.93.040(B) (if applicable).

B. The hotel employer shall make such records available to hotel employees or their representatives for inspection and copying, except that hotel employees' names (and any addresses and social security numbers) shall be redacted unless the requester is a hotel employee requesting his or her own records. Where a hotel employer does not maintain or retain adequate records consistent with this Section, or does not permit reasonable access to such records, it shall be presumed, in any administrative or judicial proceeding enforcing this Chapter, that:

1. The hotel employer required the room cleaner to clean total square footage in excess of four thousand (4,000) square feet on the day for which records are missing or inadequate, absent clear and convincing evidence otherwise;

2. No written consent to work more than ten (10) hours during a shift exists for a hotel employee for days on which written consents are missing or inadequate, absent clear and convincing evidence otherwise; and

3. The hotel employer paid the hotel employee no more than the applicable federal or state minimum wage, absent clear and convincing evidence otherwise.

(Res. No. 87287, § 1, 7-24-2018)

A hotel employer shall not discharge, reduce the compensation of nor otherwise discriminate against any person for making a complaint to the City, participating in any of its proceedings, using any civil remedies to enforce his or her rights, or otherwise asserting his or her rights under this Chapter. Within one hundred twenty (120) days of a hotel employer being notified of such activity, it shall be unlawful for the hotel employer to discharge any person who engaged in such activity unless the hotel employer has clear and convincing evidence of just cause for such discharge.

(Res. No. 87287, § 1, 7-24-2018)

The provisions of this Chapter may not be waived by agreement between an individual hotel employee and a hotel employer. All of the provisions of Section 5.93.030 and 5.93.040, or any part thereof, may be waived in a bona fide collective bargaining agreement but only if the waiver is explicitly set forth in such agreement in clear and unambiguous terms.

(Res. No. 87287, § 1, 7-24-2018)

A. This Chapter shall be enforced in accordance with the procedures set forth in Oakland Municipal Code Section 5.92.050, and the remedies set forth in that Section shall apply to violations of this Chapter, except that for a willful violation of Section 5.93.060, the amount damages attributable to lost income due to the violation shall be trebled.

B. No hotel employer may fund increases in compensation required by this Chapter, nor otherwise respond to the requirements of this Chapter, by reducing the compensation of any non-management hotel employees nor by reducing the pension, vacation, or other non-wage benefits of any such hotel employees, nor by increasing charges to them for parking, meals, uniforms or other items. If a hotel employer makes such adverse changes after the filing of the notice to circulate the petition giving rise to this Chapter but before this Chapter has become effective, then upon this Chapter's effective date, such hotel employer shall restore the conditions of the status quo ante.

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

D. A hotel employer that contracts with another person, including, without limitation, another hotel employer, a temporary staffing agency, employee leasing agency or professional employer organization, to obtain the services of hotel employees shall share all civil legal responsibility and civil liability for violations of this Chapter by that person for hotel employees performing work pursuant to the contract. For the purposes of this subsection, the term "person" shall not include:

(1) A bona fide nonprofit, community-based organization that provides services to workers;

(2) A bona fide labor organization or apprenticeship program or hiring hall operated pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement.

(Res. No. 87287, § 1, 7-24-2018)

The purpose of this Chapter is to ensure minimum labor standards for hotel employees. This Chapter does not preempt or prevent the establishment of superior employment standards (including higher wages) or the expansion of coverage by ordinance, resolution, contract, or any other action of the City or Port of Oakland. This Chapter shall not be construed to limit a discharged hotel employee's right to bring a common law cause of action for wrongful termination.

(Res. No. 87287, § 1, 7-24-2018)