Category Archives: Risk Management
Hospitality Industry Safety Solutions: Hotels And Restaurants With Ten Or More Employees Must Maintain A Written “Fire Prevention Plan” That Complies With OSHA Standards
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Filed under Fire, Guest Issues, Health, Injuries, Labor Issues, Liability, Maintenance, Risk Management, Training
Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Hawaii Hotels Violate State Law In Collecting Tips And Service Charges And Not Passing It On To Employees; State Supreme Court Rules Workers Can Also Collect Damages
 “Legal experts say they’re likely settle the cases for millions of dollars since the hotels do not contest the amount of tip money that they took 
in…Some of the hotels have already settle cases or were hit by adverse rulings. They include the Fairmont Hotel on the Big Island which paid $2.2 million and the Pacific Beach and Pagoda hotels, which paid a total of $2 million…the ruling came in the case involving two Maui hotels: the Wailea Marriott Resort and the Westin Maui. Several banquet service workers alleged in their lawsuit that the hotels imposed a 20 percent service charge but did not distribute the proceeds to workers…”
For years, Hawaii hotels regularly collected millions of dollars in tips from customers but only passed a portion of those service fees to the employees who earned them. Under a ruling by the Supreme Court today, that practice now violates Hawaii law. The high court said hotels and other businesses can only collect the tips if they disclose that they are going to keep some of the money.
Attorneys who filed class-action lawsuits on behalf of the employees say the hotels are liable for big damages. “I would say it’s going to be north of $10 million. we have $3 million on one hotel on Kauai alone,” said attorney John Perkin, whose firm has filed eight of these suits.
Boston attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan, whose firm is also handling eight different class-actions against Hawaii hotels, said the ruling has broad applications beyond the hospitality industry.
“This will affect the food and beverage industry in Hawaii,” she said. “It will affect hotels, restaurants and other food and beverage establishments, catering companies, country clubs.” The cases are potentially costly because the ruling says that hotel workers can collect damages of up two times the amount in tips that the hotels took.
For more:Â http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/22848740/hotel-workers-could-get-millions-from-lost-tips
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Filed under Employment Practices Liability, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
Hospitality Industry Health And Safety Compliance: OSHA To Increase Inspections And Enforcement Of “Emergency Exit Routes” Requirements
Retailers and hospitality entities (as well as other employers with multiple establishments) should be particularly attuned to this issue for several reasons. First, even without this directive from OSHA’s national office, year after year, 1910.36 continues to be one of the five standards most frequently cited against employers in these industries. Second, whereas in most workplaces, exits and exit routes are intended for egress of employees only, in retail and hospitality locations, emergency exits are there for both employees and patrons, which increases the scrutiny on the issue. Third, OSHA has launched at least two special emphasis enforcement programs (one in Delaware and another in Pennsylvania) focused on retail establishments, and looking at egress issues as one of the top focus areas.
Finally, although initial fines for egress-related violations are typically only $2,000 or less, OSHA now treats related workplaces within a corporate family as one workplace for purposes of Repeat violations, which carry penalties up to $70,000 per violation. This has been the primary weapon OSHA has used to drive up penalties against employers with multiple workplaces, like retailers and hospitality employers. By actively pursuing more Repeat violations, OSHA is issuing much higher penalties. Over the past four years, OSHA has increased the number of Willful and Repeat violations it has issued by more than 200%.
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Filed under Guest Issues, Health, Labor Issues, Liability, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
Hospitality Industry Safety Risks: Washington Hotel Guest Drowns In “Murky Swimming Pool”; Firefighters’ Rescue Pole Failed To Locate Victim
“…Just over a month earlier, health officials had closed the pool when an inspection revealed the water had no chlorine and was cloudy a 
spokesman for the health agency (stated)…It was reopened two days later after hotel management corrected the problem…firefighters conducted a grid search of the pool using a rescue hook and thermal-imaging camera but were unable to find (the victim), according to a fire department statement…”
The Seattle Fire Department is reviewing why its first responders could not find a Washington State University student who had sunk to the bottom of a murky hotel swimming pool and eventually drowned, The Seattle Times reported Friday. Tesfaye Girman Deboch, 27, died in the pool at the Quality Inn & Suites Seattle Center on June 30, after firefighters using a rescue pole failed to locate his body.
Officials for Public Health – Seattle & King County say the pool has a history of problems and should not have been open because of the murkiness of the water. The health agency has launched its own investigation, the Times reported.
Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/07/12/2675373/drowning-death-in-seattle-leads.html#storylink=cpy
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Filed under Guest Issues, Injuries, Liability, Pool And Spa, Risk Management
Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Maryland Hotel Group Sued By EEOC For “Pay Discrimination Based On Sex”; “Female Worker Paid Lower Wages”
“…Despite her years of similar experience at another hotel before she started work at Extended Stay Hotels and her five years of good job 
performance at the hotel, the hotel paid newly hired male employees more money than it paid to Weaver, even though they performed substantially equal work, the EEOC charged. According to the lawsuit, the hotel paid a class of female guest services representatives lower wages than those paid to their male counterparts for performing equal work…”
A leading hotel chain, Extended Stay Hotels, unlawfully paid female employees lower wages than those paid to male employees for performing equal work, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it announced today. According to the EEOC’s suit, Latoya Weaver worked as a guest services representative at the hotel’s Lexington Park, Md., location. Her duties included answering the telephone, making reservations and checking guests in and out.
Such alleged conduct violates the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. HVM L.L.C., D/B/A Extended Stay Hotels, Civil Action No. 8:13-cv-01980) in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Greenbelt Division after first attempting to reach a voluntary pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The EEOC is seeking injunctive relief prohibiting Extended Stay Hotels from paying female employees less compensation than their male counterparts for performing equal work, equitable relief that provides equal employment opportunities for women, as well as lost wages, compensatory and punitive damages and other affirmative relief for Weaver and other similarly situated female employees who were harmed by the hotel’s discriminatory conduct.
“Although we have made great strides in narrowing the wage gap between men and women, this case demonstrates that pay discrimination remains a serious problem in the workplace,” said District Director Spencer H. Lewis, Jr. of the EEOC’s Philadelphia District Office.
EEOC Regional Attorney Debra M. Lawrence added, “It is disturbing that even as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the EPA, some employers persist in paying women less than men for equal work simply because of their gender. The EEOC will take vigorous action to remedy sex-based wage discrimination.”
For more:Â http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/7-11-13a.cfm
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Filed under Employment Practices Liability, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Kansas Hotel Group Settles “Employee Termination” Lawsuit With Dept. Of Labor For $22,000 In Wages, Damages; “Workplace Safety Concerns Raised”
“…In addition to paying the back wages and compensatory damages to the former employee, True North will expunge all references to disciplinary action and termination from his personnel file and provide a written, neutral job reference, should any prospective 
employer seek a reference for the worker…Employers must understand that every employee has the right to raise workplace safety and health concerns without fear of retaliation or termination,†said Marthe Kent, OSHA’s New England regional administrator. “When employees are fearful or reluctant to raise these issues with their employers, hazardous conditions could go undetected until employees are injured or sickened…â€
As part of an enterprise wide settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor, True North Hotel Group Inc., a hotel management company based in Overland Park, Kan., will pay $22,225 in back wages and compensatory damages to a former employee who was terminated from a Massachusetts location after raising workplace safety concerns. The company will also educate all its managers and notify its employees nationwide about workers’ whistleblower rights under the Occupational Safety and Health Act as administered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
The worker then filed a whistleblower complaint with OSHA, which investigated and found merit to the complaint. True North has elected to settle the matter by taking corrective action.
Specifically, True North will immediately post the whistleblower fact sheet and OSHA poster, in English and Spanish, in conspicuous locations at all of its work premises nationwide, where they can be seen and read by all employees. It will also provide annual training on whistleblower rights and employer responsibilities to all managers and supervisors and provide training materials to all newly hired or promoted managers.
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Filed under Employment Practices Liability, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
Hospitality Industry Insurance And Legal Solutions: “Live Webinar†On “Lodging And The ADA†Presented By HospitalityLawyer.com On July 17
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Filed under Guest Issues, Insurance, Liability, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training
Hospitality Industry Technology Solutions: Hotels Are Providing “Customized Apps For Guests’ Tablets And SmartPhones” That Facilitate Constant Interaction During Stay
“…hotels are starting to adopt (new apps) for guests’ SmartPhones and tablets. A number of companies—including Handheld Hospitality, iRiS 
Software Systems and Cardola– have developed apps (such as mobile phone acting as TV remote and pre-ordering dinner at hotel restaurant) that facilitate constant interaction between hotels and their guests before, during and after their stay…”
The apps can be customized for each hotel. But they typically work like this: When guests book their rooms, hotels send them emails letting them know about the app. They can then download the app and start planning their trips. The apps act as virtual concierges with information about local restaurants and attractions.
For those guests who want to spend time inside the hotel, they can use the apps to order room service, book spa appointments and golf tee times, and learn about in-house events or happy hour specials. In other words, the apps eliminate the need for an in-room directory or a concierge.
“Apps, like 16 different types of pillow, are seen as a must-have for hotels, particularly at the top end of the market,†says Katherine Doggrell, editor of Hotel Analyst Distribution & Technology.
But, she says, hotels run the risk of overloading the apps with too much information and too many functions. “What the customer often wants is the chance to cut down the time spent in queues trying to check in and out and pay, and that’s what apps can help do,†she says. “Apps should be functional, first and foremost.â€
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Filed under Guest Issues, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Technology
Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: California Labor Commissioner’s “Wage Claims Unit” Aggressively Investigating Wage Theft Claims And Assessed Record Penalties Of $51Million In 2012; Retaliation Cases Pursued Immediately
“…the wage claims adjudication unit — the largest unit within the labor commissioner’s office that handles more than 35,000 claims a year brought by workers alleging they were denied proper wages — in 2012 heard wage claims within an average of 179 days from the date of filing, the shortest amount of time since 2008…If employees are retaliated against for cooperating with the state in a workplace investigation, the agency investigates those cases immediately…”
The California Labor Commissioner’s office last year assessed more than $51 million in civil penalties against businesses flouting labor laws, making for record-breaking results that have much to do with the office’s move away from conducting broad employer sweeps to instead zeroing in on bad actors, the agency’s chief told Law360 on Thursday.
The agency, led by State Labor Commissioner Julie Su since April 2011, focuses primarily on adjudicating wage theft claims, inspecting workplaces for wage and hour violations, and investigating retaliation complaints, and the agency’s report in May revealed that the office’s increasingly targeted efforts are paying off.
The agency’s bureau of field enforcement in 2012 uncovered more than $16 million in unpaid minimum and overtime wages owed to workers in the state, more than any previous year on record, and the more than $51 million in total civil penalties assessed in 2012 marked a 150 percent increase from 2010.
But an even more telling finding is how much the bureau has improved on workplace inspections resulting in civil penalty citations. Out of every 10 inspections, eight led to citations last year, resulting in a citation rate of 80 percent, a big increase from an average citation rate of 48 percent between 2002 and 2010, according to the report.
For more:Â http://www.law360.com/articles/453869/calif-labor-chief-sharpens-focus-on-workplace-violators–
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Filed under Employment Practices Liability, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
Hospitality Industry Insurance Risks: Hotel And Restaurant Owners Relieved By Obama Administration’s One-Year Delay Of “Affordable Care Act (ACA)”; “Law Is Too Complicated And Costly”
“…employers are relieved that federal officials are delaying penalties for businesses that fail to provide health insurance for their workers, but they say the reprieve does not clear up worries that the requirement is too complicated and too costly…the hotel has 70 employees, many of 
whom do not buy the insurance coverage the hotel offers. The Ramada Inn pays half the cost of the insurance. Business leaders said the delay was inevitable…(employers) have not seen this big a change this ill-defined this close to the deadline…the question still is how this works, what we have to pay and what are the options…it’s just in terms of whether (employers are) going to be able to understand it…”
Businesses with more than 50 employees were to face escalating tax penalties if they did not provide workers with acceptable health insurance coverage by January 2014 as required in the national health overhaul law. President Barack Obama’s administration announced Tuesday it was pushing the deadline back to January 2015 because of confusion about the requirement.
The one-year reprieve is only for businesses. Individuals still must have insurance by 2014 or face penalties, and new online marketplaces called exchanges will help them find coverage, often at subsidized rates.
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Filed under Health, Insurance, Labor Issues, Legislation, Liability, Risk Management
