1 INITIATIVE MEASURE TO BE SUBMITTED DIRECTLY TO THE VOTERS OF THE
CITY OF GARDEN GROVE
The City Attorney of the City of Garden Grove has prepared the following title and summary of the chief purpose and points of the proposed measure:
TITLE: HOTEL WORKER BENEFITS AND PROTECTION INITIATIVE
ORDINANCE.
SUMMARY:
The proposed initiative ordinance would add Chapter 5.80 to Title 5 of the Garden Grove Municipal Code to enact regulations primarily intended to protect hotel workers from violent or threatening conduct by hotel guests, and to establish minimum wages and working conditions for hotel workers.
The regulations to protect hotel workers include the provision by hotel employers of personal security devices to hotel workers that work in guest rooms or restrooms.
Employers will be required to have a designated security guard to receive alerts from the security devices. Employers will be required to provide minimum training to security guards, hotel supervisors and managers regarding the requirements of the regulations, proper functioning of the security devices, and protocols for responding to security device activation. Employers are required to provide annual training to hotel workers regarding the use and maintenance of security devices, the protocols for responding to activated devices, and the rights of hotel workers and obligations of employers under the regulations.
The regulations to establish minimum wages and working conditions establish an $18 per hour minimum wage upon adoption of the regulations, increasing $1.75 annually every July 1st thereafter until reaching $25 on July 1, 2030. Starting July 1, 2031, the minimum wage will increase by the Consumer Price Index. The workload for each hotel worker will be capped at 3500 square feet of floor space in any 8-hour workday, unless the employer pays the hotel worker twice their regular rate of pay for each additional hour worked. Cleaning of special attention rooms, or floor space of more than one floor, will require a reduction of 500 square feet from the cap for each room or floor. Hotel employers will be prohibited from adopting policies where guest rooms are not cleaned daily, and employers will be prohibited from subcontracting room cleaning.
Any change in control of a hotel will require notification, and new owners will be required to offer employment to the former employer’s hotel workers. Hotel employers that collect service charges from guests will be required to distribute the charges collected to hotel workers equitably based on the services by workers without deducting the amounts from their wages. Supervisorial and managerial staff cannot receive any part of the charges. These charges must be disclosed to consumers prior to the customer making the purchase or selection.
The City may provide a limited waiver of the regulations to a hotel employer in circumstances where a reduction of workforce or work hours are required to avoid bankruptcy or a shutdown of the hotel. The regulations can be superseded by a 2 collective bargaining agreement setting forth the waiver of the regulations within the agreement.
The regulations may be enforced by the City or any aggrieved hotel worker by civil actions for actual damages and additional civil penalties. Employers are prohibited from taking any retaliatory action against workers seeking to enforce their rights under the regulations.