The city of Santa Monica (the city) enacted a hotel worker living wage ordinance (the HWLWO) that requires hotel employers in the city to pay any hotel worker a set minimum wage.1

You can find more information regarding the HWLWO on the city of Santa Monica website or contacting the Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs (DCBA), which enforces the city’s minimum wage laws, at 1-800-593-8222 or emailing wagehelp@dcba.lacounty.gov.

Coverage and Eligibility

A covered hotel employer under the HWLWO is any of the following:

• A person who owns, controls or operates a hotel in the city;
• 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; or
• A person who provides services at the hotel. 2

“Person” under the HWLWO is an individual, corporate officer or executive, association, organization, partnership, business trust, and limited liability company or corporation.3

A “hotel” is a residential building, containing guest rooms or suites of rooms, that is designated or used for lodging and other related services for the public. “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.4 The HWLWO applies to hotels of all sizes.5

A “hotel” does not include any lodging facility that is primarily characterized by dormitory-style accommodations, shared bathrooms and reservations of beds rather than rooms (e.g., hostels).6

“Hotel workers” entitled to the rights and protections of the HWLWO are any individuals whose primary place of employment is at one or more “hotels” and who is employed directly by a hotel employer or by a person who has contract with the hotel employer to provide services at the hotel and who perform at least two hours of work in the city within any workweek.7 This includes full-time, part-time, seasonal and temporary workers.8 Exempt employees, independent contractors, and managerial, supervisory or confidential employees of a hotel employer are not hotel workers for the purposes of the HWLWO.9

Minimum Wage Rate

   
• Effective July 1, 2026, the hotel worker minimum wage is $25 per hour.

Future rate changes will be made annually to match the hourly wage set for hotel workers in the City of Los Angeles and shall take effect on July 1 of each year.10

• The Santa Monica hotel worker minimum wage is higher than either the California state minimum wage or the standard Santa Monica City minimum wage. You must pay the (higher) Santa Monica hotel worker minimum wage to eligible employees.

Service Charges

In addition to the minimum wage, hotel employers must also pay the entirety of "service charges" to hotel workers, which includes all separately designated amounts, regardless of name or label, collected from a customer for service by hotel workers, or described in such a way that customers might reasonably believe that the amounts are for service. These charges include, but are not limited to, those described on receipts, invoices or billing statements as "service charge," "table charge," "porterage charge," "automatic gratuity charge," "healthcare surcharge," "benefits surcharge," or similar language.11

Hotel employers must pay service charges to hotel workers on the next payroll following collection of an amount including, but not limited to, the following situations:

• Amounts collected for banquets or catered meetings shall be paid equally to the hotel worker(s) who actually worked the banquet or catered meeting;
• Amounts collected for room service shall be paid to the hotel worker(s) who actually delivered the food and beverage associated with the charge; and
• Amounts collected for porterage service shall be paid to hotel worker(s) who actually carried the baggage associated with the charge. 12

Paid Sick Leave

Hotel employers must provide all hotel workers paid sick leave in accordance with the city’s Minimum Wage Ordinance.13

Notice

Hotel employers must inform all hotel workers of their possible right to the earned income credit under federal law.14

Retaliation and Unlawful Practices

Hotel employers are prohibited from discharging, reducing compensation, demoting, or otherwise discriminating against any hotel workers who assert their rights under the HWLWO, such as opposing any practice prohibited by the HWLWO, participating in proceedings related to the HWLWO, or seeking to enforce their own rights under the HWLWO. Hotel workers asserting these and any other rights under the HWLWO are protected from retaliation.15 Adverse action taken within 180 days of a person exercising protected rights raises a rebuttable presumption of retaliation.16

A hotel employer may not fund wages or benefits required by the HWLWO by reducing pension, vacation, or other non-wage benefits of hotel workers, or by increasing charges for parking, uniforms, meals or work-related materials.17

Enforcement

The city may issue administrative subpoenas to obtain information regarding minimum wage and benefits provided to hotel workers, including records documenting:

• Name
• Address;
• Occupation;
• Employment dates;
• Pay rates;
• Hours worked; and
• How wages, sick leave, service charge distributions, and benefits are calculated.

Subpoenas must allow at least 30 days for compliance, and recipients may seek judicial review within that period.18

Violations of the HWLWO may be enforced by administrative citations.19 Any hotel employer found to have violated the HWLWO may be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine between $150 and $500 per violation, up to six months in county jail, or both. Alternatively, violators may be guilty of an infraction, punishable by a fine between $100 and $250 per violation. Each day a violation continues is considered a separate offense.20

The HWLWO may also be enforced by a civil action filed in court.21 Prevailing hotel workers are entitled to:

• Legal or equitable relief, including back wages;
• Unlawfully withheld time off;
• Penalties of $100 per person per day for each violation;
• Reinstatement;
• Injunctive relief; and
• Reasonable attorneys' fees and costs.

For willful violations, all amounts and penalties are trebled.22

Exemptions and Waivers

The requirements of the HWLWO may be waived pursuant to a bona fide collective bargaining agreement that includes the waiver in clear and unambiguous written terms. Neither party to the collective bargaining relationship may waive any provision of the HWPO unilaterally.23

Absent a bona fide collective bargaining agreement, hotel workers may not waive any rights under the HWLWO, and any attempt by a hotel employer to have a hotel worker waive their rights shall constitute a “willful violation.”24

A hotel employer may apply for a one-year waiver of HWLWO requirements based on financial hardship if it can demonstrate that with its current financial condition, compliance with the HWLWO 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.25 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.26

A determination to grant or deny the waiver may be appealed in accordance with the city's practice. Any waiver granted does not exempt a hotel employer from complying with all other applicable federal, state or local laws and regulations.27