Tag Archives: Americans with Disabilities Act

by | June 5, 2011 · 9:50 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Amended "Americans With Disabilities Act" (ADA) Became Law On May 24 With Potential For "Increased Frequency Of Litigation Losses"; Management Must Improve Accomodation Efforts

“…under the amended act, an employee who suffers from depression may be able to function quite normally with the aid of medication but will still be considered to be disabled and will need to receive accommodation….”

“…the frequency of discrimination claims will likely increase — as will the frequency of litigation losses — but she says the severity of individual claims will likely not change all that much, with class actions in this field being a rarity…”

Existing employment-practices liability insurance policies shouldn’t have to be rewritten or modified, she says. “We would push back on any attempt to limit coverage just because the act has been expanded.”

Employers, however, should be integrating their disability-management programs to include non-occupationally injured and ill employees, and not just workers’ compensation cases, according to Pimentel.

“That is the big trend, and by the way, from an ADA-compliance standpoint, I recommend employers take a close look at doing that,” Pimentel says.

Employers should also be revisiting how much training they are doing among their supervisors on employee etiquette, language and comfort levels in communicating with disabled employees, he advises.

“Talking to them about their needs for accommodation is … an enforced requirement under the law,” Pimentel says.

For more:  http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/story.jsp?storyId=533338925

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by | March 28, 2011 · 12:10 pm

Hospitality Industry Legal Compliance Issues: Hotels Must Be Compliant With "Americans With Disabilities Act" (ADA) Regulations Including "Mobility Issues" For "Devices Other Than Wheelchairs"

Federal law requires hotels to give people with mobility issues access to their properties, including allowing them to use devices other than wheelchairs as long as they do not raise legitimate safety concerns. The type, size and speed of the device, along with the amount of pedestrian traffic all factor into the decision.

One major change deals with the information available to people making room reservations. The idea is that people with disabilities should be able to book hotel rooms with the same efficiency, immediacy and convenience as those who do not need accessible guest rooms. The provision applies whether people are making reservations by phone, in person, on a website or though a third-party provider such as a travel agent or OTA.

Hotels must identify and describe the hotel’s accessible features in enough detail so potential guests can determine if the hotel can meet their needs, McCullough said.

Hotels also have an obligation to hold accessible guest rooms for people with disabilities unless all other guestrooms of that type have been rented. For example, McCullough said, if a hotel has 25 double-bed rooms and two are designated accessible, the reservation service must rent all 23 of non-accessible before it rents the two to people without disabilities. The rule does not apply to unique rooms such as a penthouse or bridal suite.

The difficulty is making sure that the reservation system accommodates this requirement, since the rule applies to reservations made through all channels.

“That will be a technical hurdle for your companies to leap over within the 11 months,” McCullough said. “I hope you are working on this particular issue.”

Another change requires that hotels honor a specific guest room request from customers with disabilities, even if it’s a policy of a hotel to not hold specific rooms.

For more:  http://www.hotelinteractive.com/article.aspx?articleid=20172

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by | February 26, 2011 · 8:09 am

"P3 Hospitality Risk Update": "Title 3 And ADA Law Changes" From Petra Risk Solutions' Risk Manager Joe Fisco (Video)

[vimeo 51945038 w=500 h=279]

Petra Risk Solutions’ Risk Manager, Joe Fisco, offers a P3 Hospitality Risk Update – ‘Title 3 and ADA Law Changes’. 

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.

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by | February 16, 2011 · 4:18 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: The 2012 "Americans With Disabilities Act" (ADA) Update Will Impact Hotel Ballrooms, Gyms, Spas And Employee Areas

“…the changes that are most significant to the hotel industry will affect public spaces, such as ballrooms and assembly areas, gyms, spas and employee areas…”

“…the current standards mandate that if you have six toilet compartments in a restroom, not only does one have to be a large ADA stall, but you have to have a second ADA stall that’s designed for people who have mobility issues. The second stall must be narrower and have rails on both sides…”

The new requirements take effect on 15 March 2012. Because the new rules will not be requirements for more than a year, any new development or remodeling completed before the new law goes into effect will be considered compliant.

The new standard is triggered by six fixtures, not compartments, in any combination of toilets or urinals. If the bathroom has only two stalls, one has to be the big ADA stall and the other has to be for those with mobility problems.

Other changes, according to sources:

  • The amount of counter space provided in the bathrooms of accessible rooms must be equivalent to the space provided in non-accessible rooms.
  • There is more explicit information about the acceptable depth of counters, which would apply to registration counters and counters in retail areas.
  • Swimming areas and spas are subject to expanded rules on accessible routes. Depending on the size of the pool, there may be a requirement for more than one access route into the pool, such as a ramp and stairs with handrails.
  • If there are multiple elevators that respond to the same call button, all elevators must be compliant instead of just one so that someone in a wheelchair doesn’t have to wait for the accessible one.
  • The disabled must be able to make reservations for guestrooms in the same manner as anyone else; if a hotel has an online system, they have to be able to reserve an accessible room online.
  • There are increased requirements for accessible routes within buildings.

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by | February 3, 2011 · 10:21 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Hotel Owners Must Strive To "Avoid" Employee Lawsuits With "Strong Management" And "Attentive HR Staff"

“…a review of selected cases shows plaintiffs prevailed in 55% of retaliation and whistleblower lawsuits and in 75% of sexual harassment cases…”

“…The pro-employee and, many argue, pro-union policies of the Obama administration have arguably made matters worse, if not convincing employees to sue or obstruct their employers, at least showing them how it’s accomplished…”

 

The Department of Labor, for example, citing the difficulty the average employee encounters in navigating the legal system, has said it will now provide wage/hour claimants who had filed cases with the agency but whose claims would not be heard (including those whose claims lacked merit) with a list of local attorneys who, as a DOL official announced, “may be able to help.” 

The National Labor Relations Board, its regulatory and judicial reach muted during the Bush administration, is an agency reborn, replete with pro-union appointees. In mid-December 2010, the Board announced a proposed rule that would require employers to place on employee bulletin boards a poster notifying employees of their right to unionize. Employers, particularly those in the hospitality and other service industries staffed predominantly by minimum wage employees, are understandably likely to object. Meanwhile, unions won two-thirds of all conclusive elections conducted in 2009, the most recent year surveyed, according to the NLRB’s 2009 annual report.

  Vanquishing the curse of litigation is no easy task. Labor and employment lawyers long have argued that the only effective way is to keep it from happening—to keep the genie in the bottle. How? The most practical prophylactic is a combination of strong, compassionate leadership (the opposite of what destructive leaders peddle) and an equally strong, dialed-in HR team who fairly administer policies that recognize an employee’s intrinsic value and reinforce the organization’s unequivocal support for fair treatment.

For more: http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles.aspx/4679/Two-big-HR-challenges-in-2011

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by | January 21, 2011 · 4:50 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Hotels Are Considered "Public Accomodations" And Must Provide "Auxiliary Aids And Services" To Visually-Impaired, Deaf And "Hard Of Hearing Guests" In Conference Facilities

“…public accommodations must ensure that no individual with a disability may be “treated differently than other individuals because of the absence of auxiliary aids and services.”

  • Included as examples of “auxiliary aids and services” are closed caption, rear-window captioning and open captioning for individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing.
  • With the advances in technology, it is argued that at least one form of captioning is now required in virtually all hotel rooms, meeting rooms, bars, restaurants, and other accommodations with televised services. 
  • Nearly all television sets built since 1993 with screens of 13 inches or more that are sold in the United States have closed captioning embedded in the television set. The closed captioning becomes visible when you use a special decoder, either as a separate box or built into the television set

If your hotel meeting and conference facilities appeal to a broad range of groups or organizations, which include disabled individuals (as nearly all do), are you providing auxiliary aids and services for visually impaired, deaf and hard of hearing guests? 

  • Have you implemented plans to protect yourself from this type of “new frontier” ADA litigation?
  • Have you had an “ADA audit” done by an expert team looking to protect your interests? 
  • Have you taken action to stay on top of the technology for hearing and sight impaired guests/conference attendees? 
  • Have you specifically investigated your hotel’s needs to provide auxiliary aids and services? 
  • Do you have written policies and procedures for providing auxiliary aids and services to guests/conference attendees? 
  • Do you have written policies and procedures for training staff on the need for and use of auxiliary aids and services for disabled guests/conference attendees? 
  • Do you have the necessary auxiliary aids and services on site? Are there aids and services available from sister properties if you run short? 
  • Do you have policies in place for testing auxiliary aids and services to be sure they are working and properly maintained? 
  • Do you have plans to investigate and purchase the latest in closed captioned technology?

    • For more:  http://hotellaw.jmbm.com/2011/01/hotel_ada_defense_conference_centers_and__group_hotels.html

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    by | November 19, 2010 · 1:05 pm

    Hotel Industry Legal Issues: Dept. Of Justice (DOJ), In Settlement Of A Complaint Against Hilton Hotels Over The “Americans With Disabilities Act” (ADA), Now Mandates That Hotel Owners Provide Required Number And Categories Of Accessible Rooms And Ability To Reserve Those Rooms Online

    “…the settlement represents the first time the Department of Justice has required a franchisor to require all franchised or managed hotels that enter into a new franchise or management agreement, experience a change in ownership, or renew or extend a franchise agreement, to conduct a survey of its facilities and to certify that the hotel complies with the ADA…”

    “..It is also the first time that an agreement under the ADA has specifically detailed how a hotel reservations system should be made accessible. The agreement also represents the first time that a hotel chain has been required to make its online reservations system accessible and to provide on its website current data about accessible features in guest rooms throughout the chain…”

    Allegations in the department’s complaint include:

    • Failure to provide the required number of accessible rooms
    • Failure to disperse accessible rooms among the various categories of available accommodations
    • Failure to provide individuals with disabilities the ability to reserve accessible rooms through Hilton’s central reservations system on-line or by telephone
    • Failure to provide individuals with disabilities with the accessible sleeping accommodations that they reserved.

    For more on the Justice Dept. Complaint and Findings:  http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/November/10-crt-1268.html

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