To determine if a hotel falls within the city limits, go to the city of Los Angeles Neighborhood Info website. You can find more information regarding the HWPO on the city of Los Angeles website. You can also contact the Office of Wage Standards (the OWS) at 1-844 -924-3752 or by email at wagesla@lacity.org.

Coverage and Eligibility

A covered hotel employer under the HWPO is any person who owns, controls or operates a hotel in the city and includes any person or contractor who, in a managerial, supervisory or confidential capacity, employs hotel workers to provide services at the hotel in conjunction with the hotel's purpose.1

A “hotel” is any establishment that provides temporary lodging for payment in the form of overnight accommodations in guest rooms to transient patrons for periods of 30 consecutive days or fewer. Types of hotels include:

• Hotels.
• Motor lodges.
• Motels.
• Apartment hotels.
• Transient occupancy residential structures.
• Extended-stay hotels that rent units (including units with kitchens) for 30 days or fewer.
• Private residential clubs.
• Tourist courts.
• Hostels that contain both dormitory-style accommodations and private guest rooms that may be reserved.2

A “hotel” also includes any contracted, leased or sublet premises connected to or operated in conjunction with the building's purpose, or that provides services at the building; a “hotel” does not include corporate housing, rooming houses, boarding house, single room occupancy housing, single-unit licensed bed and breakfasts, or short-term rentals under Section 12.22.A32 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code.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.4 Managerial, supervisory or confidential employees of a hotel employer are not hotel workers for the purposes of the HWPO.5

“Managerial” and “supervisory” employees are those who have:

• The authority to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward or discipline other subordinate employees;
• The responsibility to direct subordinate employees, adjust their grievances or effectively to recommend such action, if, in connection with the foregoing, the exercise of such authority is not merely of a routine or clerical nature, but requires the use of independent judgment.6

A confidential employee includes any employee whose duties involve access to confidential information usually in regard to the employer's labor relations.7

Personal Security Devices

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.8 The personal security device must be a portable emergency contact device, such as a panic button, that signals the hotel worker's location and provides direct contact with the hotel worker and a hotel security guard, manager or supervisor designated to respond to violent or threatening conduct.9

Devices such as whistles, noisemakers and alarm bells that do not provide direct contact to the person designated to respond to violent or threatening conduct do not meet the requirements of the HWPO.10

A hotel employer must have a designated and assigned security guard available at all times to provide immediate on-scene assistance to any personal security device activations.11 Hotels with fewer than 60 guest rooms may instead assign a supervisor or manager to provide immediate on-scene assistance to any personal security device activations, subject to specific training requirements discussed below.12

A hotel worker may activate their personal security device whenever they have reasonable belief that an emergency is creating an immediate threat to public safety or is of substantial risk of property loss or destruction, or during violent or threatening conduct occurring in their presence.13 Violent or threatening conduct includes the use or threat of physical violence, sexual conduct or solicitation directed toward a hotel worker without the hotel worker's consent.14

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.15 No hotel worker may be subject to an adverse employment action such as termination, reduced wages or work hours, altered work schedules, 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.16

Hotel Workers’ Rights

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 to hotel workers to report the incident to law enforcement and to consult with a counselor or advisor of the hotel worker's choice (the counsel or advisor the hotel worker uses should be licensed, certified or trained to work with individuals that have experienced trauma, threatening or violent behavior).17 “Sufficient paid time off” depends on the situation and severity of the crime.

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 or not choosing to report the conduct to law enforcement.18

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.19

Training

The HWPO requires hotel employers to provide comprehensive training to hotel workers on the following:

• Use and maintenance of the personal security devices;
• Hotel employer's protocol for responding to activation of a personal security device; and
• Rights of hotel workers and obligations of hotel employers as set forth in the HWPO.20

Hotel employers must provide this training to newly hired hotel workers within 30 days of hire, and hotels with 60 or more guest rooms must also provide this training in each language that is spoken as the primary language by at least 10 percent of the hotel's workforce.21 Hotel employers must maintain accurate attendance records of any such trainings.22

Hotels with fewer than 60 guest rooms that choose to use a manager or supervisor to respond to personal security device activations must also provide at least three hours of training to the chosen manager or supervisory on the following topics:

• Requirements of the HWPO;
• Instructions on the proper functioning and maintenance of the hotel’s personal security devices; and
• The protocols for responding to an activated personal security device.23

Hotel employers must provide this training annually to those managers or supervisors designated to respond to activated personal security devices and must maintain accurate training record of attendance at any such trainings.24

Hotel Worker Workload Limitation

Hotel employers with at least 45 guest rooms are subject to limitations on the workload they may assign their hotel workers who are employed as a “room attendant.” “Room attendants” are hotel workers whose principal duties are to clean and put in order guest rooms in a hotel.25

Hotel employers with 45 to 59 guest rooms may not require room attendants to clean more than 4,000 square feet worth of guest rooms in an eight-hour shift; hotel employers with 60 or more guest rooms may not require room attendants to clean more than 3,500 square feet worth of guest rooms in an eight-hour shift.26 “Room cleaning” involves the performance of services or tasks required to maintain the cleanliness of a hotel room before, during and after a guest's stay.27 “Room cleaning” does not include:

• Time spent delivering to, or maintaining or organizing inventory (e.g., mini-bar, toiletries, towels, linens) in guest rooms when not accompanying other cleaning tasks;
• Turndown services or tasks associated with preparing already made beds when not accompanying other cleaning tasks; and
• Preventative or as-needed maintenance activities such as repair, replacement and maintenance of appliances, electronics, furniture, doors, windows, carpets, walls, plumbing and other fixtures.28

Certain tasks will reduce the square footage a room attendant may clean during each shift. For purposes of the square footage reduction rules, the following definitions apply:

• A “special-attention room” is a guest room where the occupant declined cleaning the prior day or is being cleaned as a result of the occupant checking out.29
• An “additional bed room” is a guest room with at least one additional bed not regularly used in the guest room such as a cot or rollaway bed.30
• A “hotel building” is a structure used as a hotel that contains one or more ground-floor public or guest entrances.31

The square footage limitation will be reduced by 500 square feet for each:

• Special-attention room or additional bed room over a combination of five of these two room types that a room attendant must clean.
• Hotel building assigned in addition to the first hotel building assigned.
• Additional floor in a hotel building in which they must clean more than two floors.32

The hotel employer must state the actual square footage of each room in any written assignment of room that it provides to room attendants, and the limitations of the HWPO apply to any combination of spaces including guest rooms, meeting rooms and other rooms within the hotel regardless of furniture, equipment or amenities in the rooms.33

For room attendants that do not work eight-hour shifts, or are not assigned room attendant duties for the entirety of their eight-hour shift, the square footage limitations shall be prorated based upon the length of the shift, or length of time performing room attendant duties.34 The square footage limitation shall be increased on a prorated basis for each hour of overtime that a room attendant works or if there are multiple room attendants assigned to jointly clean guest rooms.35

If a room attendant cleans a combination of rooms that exceeds the maximum square footage in a shift they may clean under the HWPO, the room attendant must be paid twice the room attendant's regular rate of pay for every hour worked in that shift.36

Hotel employers may not require or permit a hotel worker to work more than 10 hours in a workday unless the hotel worker consents in writing to do so.37 A hotel employer may not obtain this written consent without first advising the hotel worker that the worker may decline to work more than 10 hours in a workday and that such declination will not subject the hotel worker to any adverse employment action.38 A hotel worker may revoke their consent to work overtime for any particular workday.39

This overtime limitation will not apply during an emergency where there is an immediate threat to public safety or of substantial risk of property loss or destruction.40

Daily Room Sanitizing and Cleaning Policies

Hotel employers may not implement any program or policy where a guest room is not sanitized and cleaned after each and every night the room is occupied, including programs where a guest receives financial incentives to opt out of daily room cleaning.41 For example, a hotel that provides a discount or food and service vouchers in exchange for a guest foregoing room cleaning would violate the HWPO.42

Notwithstanding this rule, hotel employers may establish or continue a sustainable environmental program under which guests are encouraged to reuse linens, bath towels or similar items, and hotel employers are not required to clean guest rooms where the guest has opted out of cleaning without hotel solicitation or wishes to not be disturbed.43

Posting and Notice Requirements

Hotel employers must display on the back of the entrance door to in each guest room and restroom facility a written notification that includes the following:

• A heading that states “The Law Protects Hotel Workers From Threatening Behavior”;
• A citation to the HWPO;
• A notification to guests that the hotel employer provides personal security devices to its employees; and
• The text of the notice is in a font with a size no less than 18 points.44

Hotel employers must also provide a written notice of the hotel workers' rights under the HWPO at the time of hire and provide this notice in any language spoken by 10 percent of the workforce.45

A hotel employer may use the model posting and hotel workers' rights notice created by the city.

Recordkeeping

Hotel employers must keep for three years records for each room attendant as follows:

• Room attendant's name;
• Rate of pay;
• Pay received;
• Identification of rooms cleaned;
• Actual square footage of each room cleaned;
• Number of special-attention rooms, number of additional hotel buildings, number of additional bed rooms, and total square footage cleaned for each workday;
• Overtime hours worked for each workday;
• Any written consent provided to work in excess of 10 hours in a workday; and
• Records of completion of training.46

Hotel employers must make these records available for inspection and copying to any hotel worker or their designated representative except that the records shall be redacted for personally identifying information of any hotel worker other than the worker making the request.47 A hotel employer must also maintain accurate records of the square footage of each room that room attendants are assigned to clean and shall provide a copy to any hotel worker who requests the record.48

Hotel employers must also keep for three years attendance records for managers or supervisors trained as response personnel to activated personal security devices.49

Retaliation

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 (“protected activities”).50 Retaliatory activities by a hotel employer may also include, but are not limited to, a reduction in hours; demotion; reassignment to a less desirable assignment, location or schedule; or the denial or reduction of other benefits.51

If a hotel employer takes an adverse action against a hotel worker within one year of the hotel worker engaging in a protected activities 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).52

Enforcement

The HWPO may be enforced by a civil action filed in superior court by either the city or an aggrieved person.53 A party 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.54 Statutory damages may be capped at $1,000 per day in total for all affected workers only if the violation is for failure to maintain or provide records.55 Any violations that are found to be willful will triple the amount of damages to be paid.56

The court is also directed to award reasonable attorneys' fees and costs, including expert witness fees, to a successful plaintiff.57

Exemptions and Waivers

Any or all of the requirements pertaining to hotel worker workload limitations, daily room sanitizing and cleaning policies, and recordkeeping may be waived pursuant to a bona fide collective bargaining agreement that includes the waiver in clear and unambiguous written terms.58 Neither party to the collective bargaining relationship may waive any provision of the HWPO unilaterally.59

A hotel employer may apply for a one-year waiver of the HWPO’s requirements based on financial hardship if it can demonstrate that with its current financial condition, compliance with the HWPO would result in either a reduction of the workforce by more than 20 percent or a reduction of hotel workers' total hours by more than 30 percent.60 Prior to submitting the application, the hotel employer must provide written notice of the application to all employed hotel workers, as well as written notice of the determination to hotel workers within three days of receipt.61

A determination to grant or deny the waiver may be appealed in accordance with the city's practice for hearing examiner review.62 Any waiver granted does not exempt a hotel employer from complying with all other applicable federal, state, or local laws and regulations.63

---

1. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.01K

2. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.01I

3. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.01I

4. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.01L

5. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.01L

6. Los Angeles Rules and Regulations Implementing the Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance (August 12, 2022), Reg. #2

7. Los Angeles Rules and Regulations Implementing the Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance (August 12, 2022), Reg. #2

8. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.02A1

9. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.01M

10. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.01M

11. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.02A3

12. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.02A3

13. Los Angeles Mun. Code secs. 182.01F, 182.02A2

14. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.01Q

15. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.02A2

16. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.02A2

17. Los Angeles Rules and Regulations Implementing the Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance (August 12, 2022), Reg. #5

18. Los Angeles Mun. Code secs. 182.02B2, 182.02B3

19. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.02B4

20. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.02C

21. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.02C

22. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.02C

23. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.02A3

24. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.02A3

25. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.01N

26. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.03A

27. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.01O

28. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.01O

29. Los Angeles Mun. Code secs. 182.01C, 182.01P

30. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.01A

31. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.01J

32. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.03A

33. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.03A

34. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.03B

35. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.03B

36. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.03A

37. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.03C

38. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.03C

39. Los Angeles Rules and Regulations Implementing the Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance (August 12, 2022), Reg. #6

40. Los Angeles Mun. Code secs. 182.03A, 182.01F

41. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.03D

42. Los Angeles Rules and Regulations Implementing the Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance (August 12, 2022), Reg. #6

43. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.03D

44. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.02C

45. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.05

46. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.03E

47. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.03E

48. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.03E

49. Los Angeles Rules and Regulations Implementing the Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance (August 12, 2022), Reg. #4

50. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.06

51. Los Angeles Rules and Regulations Implementing the Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance (August 12, 2022), Reg. #9

52. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.06

53. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.10A

54. Los Angeles Mun. Code secs. 182.10B, 182.10C

55. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.10C

56. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.10C

57. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.10D

58. Los Angeles Rules and Regulations Implementing the Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance (August 12, 2022), Reg. #7A

59. Los Angeles Rules and Regulations Implementing the Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance (August 12, 2022), Reg. #7A

60. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.04B

61. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.04C

62. Los Angeles Mun. Code sec. 182.04B

63. Los Angeles Rules and Regulations Implementing the Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance (August 12, 2022), Reg. #7B