Last August, we wrote about a Chicago ordinance requiring hotel employers to, among other things, equip hotel employees assigned to work in guestrooms or restrooms with portable emergency contact devices. The emergency contact devices, referred to as 'panic buttons,' may be used to summon help if the employee reasonably believes that an ongoing crime, sexual harassment, sexual assault or other emergency is occurring in the employee's presence. The Chicago ordinance took effect July 1, 2018.
Shortly after the Chicago City Council approved the ordinance, AB 1761 was introduced in the California Assembly. While the bill passed the Assembly, it did not make its way into law. Similar to the Chicago ordinance, the California bill, among other things, would have required hotel employers to provide their employees with a panic button in order to summon immediate assistance when working alone in a guestroom.
While the California statewide bill did not pass, local ordinances in Sacramento and Long Beach (California) have since received approval. The Sacramento County Hotel Worker Protection Act of 2018 applies to hotels or motels with 25 or more rooms, located in the unincorporated area of Sacramento County. Not only does it require every hotel licensee to equip each employee who is assigned to work in a guest room or restroom with a panic button or notification device, it also requires every hotel licensee to develop, maintain, and comply with a written sexual harassment policy to protect employees against sexual assault and sexual harassment by guests. The policy must describe the procedures the complaining employee and hotel licensee shall follow in instances of alleged sexual assault and sexual harassment by guests. And, in Long Beach, hotels of any size must provide panic buttons to employees. The Long Beach ordinance also prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who decide to use their panic buttons.
Local panic button measures have expanded beyond California. Miami Beach, for instance, passed a measure effective August 1, 2019 requiring hotels and hostels in the City of Miami Beach to provide a safety button or notification device to each hotel or hostel employee that is a room attendant, housekeeping attendant, minibar attendant, or room service server. An employee may use the safety button or notification device if the employee reasonably believes there is an ongoing crime, harassment, or other emergency in the employee's presence. Affected employers are also required to submit an affidavit with the annual renewal of the hotel's or hostel's City business tax receipt stating the hotel or hostel employer is in compliance with the ordinance.
Apart from the passage of local ordinances, 'panic button' measures have made their way into several collective bargaining agreements across the country, including those in New York. As a result, the lodging industry should keep a close eye on these measures as they are gaining momentum nationwide.
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New Jersey officials passed legislation Tuesday making the state the first in the country to require hotels to provide workers with wearable panic buttons.
According to The Associated Press, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed the bill mandating hotel employees wear the company-provided devices that will allow users to summon help quickly in case of an emergency.
Major hotel chains such as Marriott International and Hilton had already announced their intention to implement the wearable panic buttons before the legislation was passed. Other states such as Illinois, Florida and Washington are also considering similar requirements.
“I am proud to sign panic button legislation to give hotel workers security and the ability to immediately call for help should they need it,” Governor Murphy said.
The new law will go into effect in January 2020 and applies to hotels with 100 or more rooms.
After the legislation was passed, housekeepers and their union representatives applauded the effort, saying that many employees have felt unsafe on the job at times.
Tens of thousands of employees at more than 18,00 US hotels will soon carry panic buttons help protect them from harassment and assault. More than a dozen big hotel chains said they will provide personal safety devices to all employees by 2020. (Sept. 6)
AP
AP
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Employees who work alone in hotel rooms will soon be required to carry panic button devices, making New Jersey first in the nation to mandate the a safety measure, according to the governor.
Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday signed a law requiring hotels with more than 100 rooms to provide employees such as housekeepers with the devices, a measure of protection for people who work alone. The law goes into effect in January.
“We must protect the safety of workers in the hospitality industry,” Murphy said in a statement after signing the bill into law in Atlantic City. “This new law will ensure that hotel employees performing their duties will have the means to summon immediate assistance if they are in danger.”
While New Jersey is the first state to require panic buttons, several major hotel companies have already said they will provide employees emergency alert devices amid an industry-wide reckoning with the prevalence of sexual assault prompted by the #MeToo movement.
Last year, police arrested and charged a man they said sexually assaulted a 51-year old woman working at Bally’s Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City.
“No one should ever have to work in fear,” said Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, a primary sponsor of the bill. “The isolating nature of hotel employees servicing private rooms puts them in a uniquely vulnerable position.”
Many of the country’s largest hotel chains have already promised to provide workers with emergency alert devices. Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott International, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts and the parent company of Motel 6 and Studio 6 all have pledged to provide the devices by 2020. Several cities, including Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C., already require panic buttons.
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The hotel industry’s push comes amid the #MeToo movement’s heightened awareness of widespread sexual assault, as well as attention on human rights abuses such as human trafficking.
“Their line of work combines anonymity with seclusion and the risk of harassment and assault is a reality hotel workers face every day,” said Sen. Linda Greenstein, D-Middlesex. “This law will give these employees a sense of safety most of us take for granted in our places of work and will empower them to protect themselves when in danger.”
Contributing: The Associated Press
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