Stand with Women Against Abuse Santa Monica
Santa Monica City Council
The Santa Monica community is calling on the City Council to pass comprehensive legislation to protect hotel workers.
Tourism is one of the most important industries in the City of Santa Monica. Visitors to our city contributed more than $51 million in transient occupancy tax and infused almost $2 billion into the local economy in 2016.
Hotel workers are the backbone of this lucrative industry, but they face unique workplace risks.
Hotel room attendants who work alone in guest rooms without witnesses or cameras face unique risks of threatening behavior, including sexual assault and other crimes. They are also frequently assigned excessive room cleaning quotas and unexpected mandatory overtime, which undermines their ability to meet family obligations, and can undermine other employment protections benefitting these employees.
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Santa Monica City Council
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Workers also deserve protection against the kinds of mass layoffs that frequently occur when hotels change ownership and opportunities for training on their rights as workers and best practices to protect public health and safety.
As we wait for the ordinance to come back before you, we want to make sure that the law that ultimately goes into effect will be comprehensive. We hope that the law will include the following provisions:
Panic Buttons
Safety devices that workers can activate to notify on-site security of an ongoing crime or threatening behavior, and protection against retaliation for using a safety device.
Humane Workloads
Fair compensation if workers are required to clean more than 3500 square feet during an 8-hour shift and a prohibition on mandatory overtime.
Hotel Worker Retention
Transition period to prevent mass layoffs and ensure that dedicated, trained staff keep their jobs after a hotel changes ownership
Housekeeper Training Program
Training on key issues affecting the public, including potential threats or crime including human trafficking, domestic violence, and sexual violence, risks to public health, as well as workers’ legal rights.
Thank you.