For more information on the HMW you may visit Oakland's website, or you may contact the city at 510-238-7735 or minwageinfo@oaklandca.gov.

Coverage and Eligibility

Under the HMW, a covered hotel employer is any of the following:

• A person who owns, controls or operates a hotel in Oakland;
• A person who owns, controls and/or operates any contracted, leased or sublet premises connected to or operated in conjunction with a hotel's purpose;
• A person who provides services at the hotel.1

A “hotel” is any public or private living space offered for sleeping or overnight accommodations in exchange for money within Oakland, containing 50 or more guest rooms or suites of rooms.2 Types of hotels include:

• Hotels.
• Motels.
• Inns.
• Hostelry.
• Tourist home or house.
• Motel rooming house.
• Mobile home.3
• A premise physically connected to a hotel, including sharing an entrance with or being accessible through a hotel.
• A premise is operated in conjunction with a hotel that provides guest services (e.g., room service, banquet service or valet parking), is staffed by employees of the Hotel or is permitted to add charges to hotel guests’ room bills.4
• Any other living place within the city.5

“Hotel” also includes any contracted, leased or sublet premises operated in conjunction with a hotel or that is used for the primary purpose of providing services at a hotel.6

Under the HMW, a “hotel employee” is any individual 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 Oakland; and
• Was hired to do or did work an average of five hours per week for four weeks at one or more hotels.7

This includes employees who are “hired to or did work” an average of five hours per week for four weeks, whether they actually worked those hours or were scheduled to do so but worked less due to approved leave. Individuals who provide delivery services to hotels but perform no additional work on the hotel’s premises are not hotel employees.8

Hotel Employee Minimum Wage

Starting on July 1, 2019, and annually thereafter, the HMW states that hotel employees are required to receive an hourly wage at a rate no less than the hourly rate set by Oakland, subject to any yearly adjustments, also excluding tips, service charge disbursements and bonuses. 9

The current minimum wage for hotel employees (whether employed directly by a hotel or by a contractor of a hotel) in Oakland, effective January 1, 2026, is $18.85 per hour for those who receive employer paid health benefits and $25.4 per hour for those who do not receive health benefits. If a hotel employee declines a hotel employer’s offer of health insurance, the hotel employer must pay the employee the higher hourly minimum wage rate.10

• The minimum wage set for hotel employees in Oakland is higher than the California state minimum wage. You must pay the (higher) minimum wage as outlined in the HMW to employees who are eligible for it.

New wage rates start on January 1 each year and will increase based on the prior calendar year's rise in the Consumer Price Index for employees in California’s San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose metropolitan area.11 Hotel employers shall provide notice to hotel employees of the new minimum wage as soon as practicable but no later than December 15th of each year.12

Panic Button Devices

A hotel employer must provide — and maintain in good working order — a panic button at no cost to each hotel employee assigned to work in a guest room or bathroom that no other hotel employee is assigned to work.13 The panic button must be an electronic device a hotel employee may use when they reasonably believe an ongoing crime, threat or other emergency is occurring, and that will summon immediate assistance from a security guard or other person employed by the hotel.14 Whistles, personal alarms, and walkie-talkies or two-way radios do not qualify as panic buttons.15

A hotel employer must always have a designated employee or security guard available to provide immediate on-scene assistance to any panic button activations.16 The designated responder must be alerted to the precise location where the hotel employee is located, including the building, floor and room numbers, and must have all necessary keys or codes to access the area.17

A hotel employee may activate a panic button when they have a reasonable belief that their safety is at risk (e.g., to report threatening or violent conduct by a hotel guest or other emergencies).18 Violent or threatening conduct includes indecent exposure, solicitation, assault or coercive sexual conduct by a guest.19

The HMW authorizes a hotel employee to cease work immediately and leave the area prior to or upon activation of the panic button to await assistance.20 No hotel employee may be subject to discipline for ceasing work under these conditions unless there is clear and convincing evidence the hotel employee knowingly and intentionally made a false claim of an emergency.21

Hotel Employees’ Rights

The HMW provides for various rights and protections to hotel employees who bring violent or threatening conduct to their employer’s attention.

A hotel employee who reports guest violence or threatening behavior, including indecent exposure, solicitation, assault or coercive sexual conduct, is entitled to the following protections:

If the employee reasonably believes their safety is at risk and requests a change, they must be reassigned to a different floor (or, if unavailable, another work area away from the alleged offender), for the duration of the alleged offender's stay.22
• The hotel employer must immediately provide the affected employee with sufficient paid time off to contact the police, submit a statement, and consult with a counselor or advisor of their choice.23 The employee has the option, but is not required, to report the incident to law enforcement. “Sufficient paid time off” will vary according to the seriousness or complexity of the situation.24
• The hotel employer must cooperate with any investigations by law enforcement or any attorney representing the employee regarding the incident.25

Workload Limitation

A hotel employer must not require a “room cleaner” to clean more than 4,000 square feet of floor space in an eight-hour workday, unless the cleaner is paid double their regular rate for all hours worked that day.26 “Room cleaners” are hotel employees whose principal duties are to clean and put in order residential guest rooms in a hotel, regardless of the job title they hold.27 For workdays shorter than eight hours, the maximum floor space square footage is proportionally reduced.28 For example, a hotel employer cannot require a hotel employee who works a six-hour shift to clean more than 3,000 square feet without receiving double their regular rate of pay for all hours worked that day.29

Additionally, if a room cleaner is assigned to clean seven or more checkout rooms or additional-bed rooms during a workday, the maximum allowable floor space decreases by 500 square feet for each room beyond six.30 An additional-bed room means a room with additional beds such as cots or roll-aways.31

These workload restrictions apply to any combination of spaces, including guest rooms, suites, meeting rooms or hospitality rooms, regardless of furniture, equipment or amenities.32

Hotel employers cannot require or allow a hotel employee to work more than 10 hours in a workday unless the employee provides written consent. This written consent is only valid if, 30 days before giving their consent, the employee 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 notice must be provided in each language spoken by more than 10 percent or ten hotel employees, whichever is less. This requirement does not apply in “emergency situations,” meaning situations of immediate threat to public safety or a substantial risk of property loss or destruction.33

Posting and Notice Requirements

Hotel employers must provide notice of the HMW’s requirements to both hotel employees and guests as follows:

• Provide written notice to both current and new hotel employees of their rights under the HMW. This notice must be provided in each language spoken by 10 percent of hotel employees or ten hotel employees, whichever is less;34 and
• Prominently display on the back of each guest room’s entrance door a written notification, in no less than size 18-point font, that:
• Contains the heading “The Law Protects Hotel Housekeepers and Employees from Threatening Behavior”;
• Includes a citation to the HMW section of the Oakland Municipal Code; and
• Informs guests that the hotel employer provides panic buttons to hotel employees assigned to work in guest rooms without other employees present.35

Recordkeeping

Hotel employers must maintain precise records for a minimum of three years for each room cleaner, documenting:

• Name;
• Rate of pay;
• Pay received;
• Number of rooms cleaned each workday;
• Total square footage cleaned each workday (optional); and
• Any written overtime consents.36

Hotel employers must also maintain for a minimum of three years records of each hotel employee’s name, hours worked, rate of pay and proof of health benefits37.

These records must be made available to any hotel employee or their representative for review and copying, with the caveat that names, addresses and Social Security numbers must be redacted, except to the extent that the records identify the hotel employee who is making the request.38

Where a hotel employer does not retain adequate records — or does not permit reasonable access to such records — it shall be presumed, absent clear and convincing evidence otherwise, that:

• The hotel employer required the room cleaner to clean total square footage in excess of 4,000 square feet on the day for which records are missing or inadequate;
• No written consent to work more than 10 hours during a shift exists for a hotel employee for days on which written consents are missing or inadequate; and
• The hotel employer paid the hotel employee no more than the applicable federal or state minimum wage.39

Retaliation

Hotel employees are protected from any adverse action such as termination, reduction in wages or discrimination for opposing any practice prohibited by the HMW, seeking to enforce their rights under the HMW, or otherwise exercising their rights under the HMW. A hotel employer cannot terminate a hotel employee within 120 days of being notified the employee asserted their rights under the HMW, unless the employer has “clear and convincing evidence of just cause” for terminating the employee.40

Enforcement

The HMW may be enforced by a civil action filed in superior court by an aggrieved person or their representative. A party who claims an HMW violation may seek and receive injunctive relief against any person violating the HMW, as well as equitable relief, such as reinstatement or monetary damages. A hotel employer is liable for statutory damages of $50 per day for each violation of the HMW, up to a maximum of $1,000 per day.41 In cases of a willful violation of the HMW’s no retaliation section, damages related to lost income will be tripled. Additionally, if a hotel employee prevails in a legal action, the court must award reasonable attorney's fees and costs.42

A hotel employer that contracts with another party — including 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 responsibilities and liabilities for violations of the HMW by that party, excluding bona fide nonprofit, community-based organizations that provide services to workers, and bona fide labor organizations, apprenticeship programs or hiring halls operating under a collective bargaining agreement.43

Waiver

The HMW requirements cannot be waived by any agreement between an individual hotel employee and employer. Provisions of the hotel employees' rights and workload limitations requirements under the HMW can only be waived in a bona fide collective bargaining agreement that explicitly states the waiver in clear and unambiguous terms.44

1. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.010

2. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.010; Oakland Hotel Workers Protection & Employment Standards Ordinance FAQ No. (III)(3)

3. Oakland Hotel Workers Protection & Employment Standards Ordinance FAQ No. (III)(3)

4. Oakland Regulations Interrupting the Hotel Minimum Wage and Working Conditions Ordinance (HMWWCO) (Feb. 13, 2020), Reg. (I)(B)(2)

5. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.010

6. Oakland Hotel Workers Protection & Employment Standards Ordinance FAQ No. (III)(5)

7. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.010

8. Oakland Regulations Interrupting the HMWWCO (Feb. 13, 2020), Reg. (I)(C)(3)

9. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.040

10. Oakland Regulations Interrupting the HMWWCO (Feb. 13, 2020), Reg. (IV)(D)

11. Oakland Regulations Interrupting the HMWWCO (Feb. 13, 2020), Reg. (IV)(F)

12. Oakland Hotel Workers Protection & Employment Standards Ordinance FAQ No. (IV)(F)

13. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.020(B)

14. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.010

15. Oakland Regulations Interrupting the HMWWCO (Feb. 13, 2020), Reg. (II)(A)(3)

16. Oakland Hotel Workers Protection & Employment Standards Ordinance FAQ No. (IV)(A)(3)

17. Oakland Regulations Interrupting the HMWWCO (Feb. 13, 2020), Reg. (II)(A)(2)(b)

18. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.020(A)

19. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.020(C)

20. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.020(B)(1)

21. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.020(B)(2)

22. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.020(C)(1)

23. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.020(C)(2)

24. Oakland Regulations Interrupting the HMWWCO (Feb. 13, 2020), Reg. (II)(B)(2)(a)

25. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.020(C)(3)

26. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.030(B); Oakland Regulations Interrupting the HMWWCO (Feb. 13, 2020), Reg. (I)(D)

27. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.010

28. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.030(B)

29. Oakland Hotel Workers Protection & Employment Standards Ordinance FAQ No. (V)(5)

30. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.030(B)

31. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.010

32. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.030(B)

33. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.030(C)

34. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.080(C)

35. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.020(D)

36. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.050(A)

37. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.050(A)

38. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.050(B)

39. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.050(B)

40. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.060

41. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.92.050(G)(3)

42. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.080(A)

43. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.080(D)

44. Oakland Mun. Code sec. 5.93.070