[vimeo https://vimeo.com/113722566 w=500&h=281]
Petra Risk Solutions’ Loss Control Manager, Matt Karp, offers a P3 Hospitality Risk Report – ‘Preventing Credit Card Fraud at Hotels’.Â
P3 (Petra Plus Process) is the Risk Management Division of Petra Risk Solutions – America ’s largest independent insurance brokerage devoted exclusively to the hospitality marketplace.
For more information on Petra and P3 visit petrarisksolutions.com or call 800.466.8951.
Many hotels fail to perform adequate background checks on job applicants before hiring them. In September 2011, a woman staying at a Best Western hotel in Arizona woke up in the middle of the night
to find a man standing over her bed. She says the man raped her. He was a registered level-3 sex offender, according to news reports, but Best Western had hired him as a night clerk and given him a master key to guest rooms, allowing him unfettered access to turn any of its female guests into his next victims
The difference between a hotel room at $75 a night and $750 a night is the view, the extra shampoo, the cost of the pillows, the fluff of the towels. Price is a measure of comfort and service. What must always be the same — at every price — is your security, your safety and cleanliness. Unfortunately, it’s not. Across the country, hotels are skimping on key safety and security measures, and the consequences range from stolen laptops and Peeping Toms to sexual assaults and robbery at gunpoint. More than 125 property crimes are committed in hotels and motels every day, in addition to more than 21 violent crimes (excluding murders).
For more:Â http://wapo.st/1vnfYFb
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Security Update: “The Case For Giving Hotels the Same Health Grades as Restaurants”
Filed under Crime, Guest Issues, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
Consider the risks involved when an employee travels overseas for work. Courts have often ruled that an injury or illness that an employee suffers while on short term assignment away from home—even if he or she is not working when it occurs—is work-related.
But a basic workers’ compensation policy will probably not cover this type of claim. A foreign workers’ compensation policy will. Although no law requires employers to provide this coverage, you risk paying medical and lost-time costs out of pocket if you do not have coverage and a traveling employee becomes injured.
You might think your workers’ compensation covers all work-related injuries and illnesses. This could prove a costly mistake.
In most cases, workers’ compensation will cover work-related injuries and illnesses. But in certain special circumstances—which might apply to your company—the basic workers’ compensation policy will not provide coverage. This could leave your company on the hook for a costly workers’ compensation claim.
For more:Â http://bit.ly/1ycd3fF
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Insurance Update: “Think Your Workers’ Compensation Covers Everything? Think Again!”
Filed under Employee Benefits, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Injuries, Insurance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
Customers often base their spending behaviors solely on their perception of the service. This is particularly true in the travel industry. 
Quick and efficient check-ins, a welcoming and accommodating staff, honesty and brand reliability are essential. When combined, these ingredients create the ultimate recipe for profitability.
The hospitality industry is thriving, but with that success comes responsibility. Hotel and restaurant owners need good management practices in order to remain relevant and realize sustained profits. Effective management includes overseeing employee satisfaction. Research has shown that there is a direct connection between employee contentment and customer loyalty. This is why it is important to take an interest in each staff member’s happiness.
In an accommodation industry, the key to customer satisfaction is high-quality service. However, employees who are unhappy often lack the motivation to provide such service, which results in disgruntled customers. This trickle-down effect can adversely affect a company’s revenue. Studies have proven that the attitude of an employee is directly related to a customer’s spending. Essentially, happy employees create happy customers.
For more:Â http://bit.ly/1xKit6j
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Filed under Employee Practices, Hotel Employees, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
At a Crowne Plaza hotel, the maid collected all the used drinking glasses, put them into the sink, and turned on the water. Then she gathered all the dirty towels from the bathroom floor,
held onto one, and used it to help dry the cups. The Crowne Plaza maid then used the same towel to wipe down the countertop, the toilet and the bathtub. She never used soap on anything, but she did return to spray the room with air freshener.
When you check into a hotel room, you assume the maid has cleaned everything, including changing the sheets and disinfecting the bathroom. But a hidden camera investigation revealed that may not always be the case.
The Rossen Reports team booked rooms for two nights at some of the most popular hotel chains and rigged them with cameras (all three of the hotels were in northeastern New Jersey). In each case they put soda in the glasses, threw towels on the bathroom floors and made the rooms looked used before calling to have housekeeping make them up, as well as prominently displaying the card requesting that all linens be changed.
For more: http://on.today.com/1ur6PcG
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Filed under Employee Practices, Guest Issues, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training
In terms of attracting and hiring millennials, employers should be mindful that this is a generation that fully embraces technology. Thus, job descriptions should always be listed online,
and posts should be creative and convey sufficient information about a company’s culture and career path opportunities. Millennials seek employment where they perceive they will be doing meaningful work, and care a great deal about the environment and sustainability. They are the most ethnically diverse workforce to date. In terms of motivation and training, millennials seek constant feedback, and prefer to be coached rather than managed.
Generation Y, commonly referred to as “millennials,†comprise the roughly 80 million people who were born between 1976 and 2001. A great deal has been written about this unique generation that has grown up immersed in a world of technology and social media: they are frequently stereotyped as self-involved with a strong sense of entitlement, coddled, and even labeled “Generation me.†Regardless of whether these frequently bandied about assertions are true, in the next few years, millennials will make up approximately 40% of the U.S. population.
In the hospitality industry, this means not only tailoring and reshaping services to accommodate millennials, but also recognizing that an increasing percentage of hotel and restaurant employees are currently, or will be, part of this generation. Notwithstanding the likelihood that millennials will flock to this robust, growing industry, it only makes sense that hotel and restaurant employers would be actively looking to hire employees who mirror their customer base.
For more:Â http://bit.ly/11o4GoL
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Filed under Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Training
After the outbreak, staff members with the county’s Communicable Disease and Environmental Health Service began working with hotel management
to implement infectious disease containment measures. The measures include frequent and comprehensive cleaning of common areas, educating employees about the virus and posting additional signage reminding employees to wash their hands.
Public health officials say 60 people who fell ill after staying at a Bay Area luxury hotel two weeks ago contracted the norovirus — a highly contagious virus that can lead to stomach pain, nausea and diarrhea.
San Mateo County health officials confirmed Friday that the guests and employees of the Hotel Sofitel in Redwood City became ill sometime after Oct. 28, and traced the illness to the highly contagious norovirus, which spreads after contact with an infected person or contaminated food and water.
For more:Â http://lat.ms/1uYVKCD
And for more on how to help prevent Norovirus at your property, check out the video below from Petra’s own P3 Risk Management Team.
[vimeo https://vimeo.com/98741016 w=500&h=281]
Petra Risk Solutions’ Loss Control Manager, Matt Karp, offers a P3 Hospitality Risk Report – ‘Preventing Norovirus at Your Property’.Â
P3 (Petra Plus Process) is the Risk Management Division of Petra Risk Solutions – America ’s largest independent insurance brokerage devoted exclusively to the hospitality marketplace.
For more information on Petra and P3 visit petrarisksolutions.com or call 800.466.8951.
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Management Update: “60 People Fall Ill With Norovirus at Bay Area Luxury Hotel” (VIDEO)
Filed under Employee Practices, Food Illnesses, Guest Issues, Health, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Hotel Restaurant, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training
There are many legitimate reasons for an employer to monitor spaces at the workplace, in fact, the law might require the employer to do so in some situations.
However, surveillance is a sensitive subject and employers have good reason to be cautious. As always, employers should consult competent legal counsel before implementing any workplace surveillance program.
Employees can make or break businesses in the service industry. While customer service oriented employees create a luxurious experience at a lesser establishment, employees that don’t prioritize customer service can ruin a guest’s experience even at the most finely-appointed hotel.
However, managers and supervisors cannot always be present to recognize and reward desirable service practices, nor can they always be present identify and correct poor practices. With so many points of customer and employee interaction, surveillance is one of the most effective methods to safeguard employee safety and integrity, review employee performance, identify training points, and document “HR issues.†Of course, too much of a good thing can be a problem.
Employers must understand the difference between valid surveillance and illegal intrusions on privacy rights before taking advantage of video/audio recordings. This article aims to help employers stay on the right side of that fence.
For more:Â http://bit.ly/1u1RgK0
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Filed under Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Privacy, Technology
So far, it appears that the Ebola outbreak is not holding back companies’ road warriors. According to a poll of corporate travel managers released by the Global Business Travel Association Foundation,
nearly 80 percent of the managers said international business travel has either not been impacted at all or has not been impacted much during the past month. Likewise, more than 90 percent of managers said that domestic business travel has either not been impacted at all or has not been impacted much during the past month.
Travelers aren’t immune to the fear of Ebola generated by top headlines, so even though the dangers of a serious outbreak in the United States remain extraordinarily low, hotels must be prepared to respond to guests’ and employees’ concerns. And with flu season upon us, they should be ready to take responsible action no matter what the serious health care scenario.
“The health, safety, and security of our guests and team members is paramount,†stated Katherine Lugar, president and CEO of the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AH&LA) in a press release. “In these kinds of rapidly evolving situations, it is imperative that we stay informed, dispel fact from fiction, and follow official guidelines.â€
For more:Â http://bit.ly/1x3lCeB
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Filed under Guest Issues, Health, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
California employers are required by law to have workers’ comp insurance, even if they have only one employee.
The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) imposes assessments on employers to cover the cost of potential workers comp claims. The amount a business pays into the system depends on how many employees a business has and what its total payroll is.
California has been ranked as the most expensive state for workers’ compensation costs, according to a newly released report.
The Workers’ Compensation Premium Rate Ranking Summary from Oregon’s Department of Consumer and Business Services shows that California businesses spend $3.48 for every $100 of payroll issued.
That’s 188 percent of the median cost of $1.85 for all 50 states. California was the third most expensive state in 2012 and the fifth most expensive in 2010.
“California’s workers’ compensation system is incredibly inefficient,†said Jerry Azevedo, a spokesman for the California-based Workers’ Compensation Action Network, which seeks to reduce costs for employers and improve services to injured workers. “It does not do a good job of achieving its goal. For as much as employers pay, they don’t get a lot out of it.â€
For more:Â http://bit.ly/1pgVFZb
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Filed under Claims, Employee Benefits, Health, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Insurance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
