SANTA MONICA—The Santa Monica City Council passed an ordinance to make workplace safety and compensation protections for 2,100 hotel housekeepers, noted the city of Santa Monica in a press release on Wednesday, August 28.
According to the Santa Monica City Council, the ordinance was proposed in September 2018 by the City’s Commission on the Status of Woman in a letter to the council.
The ordinance contain four key components:
- Provides hotel housekeepers with safety protections to prevent against sexual violence or other threatening behavior. This is provided through mandatory personal security devices and hotel workers’ ability to report criminal and threatening behavior without fear of retaliation.
- Establishes daily workload maximums of 4,000 square feet for hotels with less than 40 guest rooms and 3,500 square feet for hotels with greater than 40 guest rooms, and requires a double overtime compensation rate for all hours worked in a workday when a housekeeper’s workload exceeds these maximums.
- Requires training on personal rights and safety, and education to protect public health and prevent instances of human trafficking, domestic violence, and sexual violence. The City will select and certify a Public Housekeeping Training Organization, which hotels will be required to use to provide regular trainings for their workers.
- Calls for hotel worker retention for a 90-day transition period in instances of a change in hotel ownership.
Santa Monica will be creating a Public Housekeeping Training Organization to promote training for every housekeeper.
“Everyone deserves to come to work feeling safe and protected, and this ordinance provides that assurance,” said Santa Monica Mayor Gleam Davis. “We are investing in the wellbeing of hotel housekeepers, who are a fundamental contributor to Santa Monica’s strong tourism industry that supports our schools, parks, and municipal operations with over $60 million in tax revenues annually.”
The worker retention provision will go into effect when the ordinance goes into effect starting October 2019. The safety protections and overtime provisions will go into effect in January 2020; training will be required starting January 1, 2021.
Written By Maydeen Merino and Donald Roberts
