Tag Archives: Hotel Staff

How to Ramp Up Employee Cybersecurity Training

employee

In 2015, the hotel industry suffered unprecedented cyberattacks. In one month alone, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide and Hilton Worldwide Holdings all fell prey to savvy cyber thievery.

Hyatt confirmed hackers used malware to collect cardholder names, card numbers, expiration dates and verification codes from at least 250 hotels globally. Just a few days after the company announced its planned merger with Marriott International, Starwood Hotels also stated malware had been used to steal credit and debit card data that was found on point-of-sale cash registers.

Hilton also began investigating credit card breaches at several of its properties, including its Hilton, Embassy Suites, DoubleTree, Hampton Inn and Suites, and Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts brands. Hilton confirmed the breach and, much like Hyatt and Starwood, cited unauthorized malware that targeted payment card information in point-of-sale systems as the cause of the breach. Additional hotels targeted by hackers in 2015 included The Trump Hotel Collection, Mandarin Oriental and White Lodging Services Corporation.

To help prevent breaches, management should take steps to clearly define employee policies and procedures, which include:

Create protocols for access and transfer of sensitive information

Once a hotel has its IT network secure, only certain individuals should have access to the data. Further, user activity should be monitored using insider threat detection solutions that notify management of suspicious activities, both externally and internally. This includes monitoring applications for phones or computers that have access to sensitive data.

Hoteliers should tighten all network security. Simple ways to help accomplish that include:

  • ensure logins expire after short periods of inactivity;
  • require strong passwords that are never written down in public or unsecured locations; and
  • scan devices for malware every time they are plugged in.

Confirm that off-site technology is secure

Data housed off-site should be routinely backed up, and hoteliers should ensure that Web application firewalls are cloud-based solutions that are secure and encrypted. Hoteliers also should use top-notch anti-malware software and update it routinely.

Securing paper files that might include personal information

Employee files are a major target area for data breaches by way of paper files. They are typically easy to access (particularly in smaller hotels) and provide a significant source of data for a low-tech inside job.

Employee files also might include medical information protected by HIPAA. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, hacking has been involved in the HIPAA breaches of nearly 3 million patient records since 2009. Employees across all industries, including hospitality, should be aware that this highly sensitive information needs to be protected.

For more: http://bit.ly/1mHKrMn

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Filed under Crime, Employee Practices, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training

Eight Places to Clean to Avoid Norovirus Outbreak

norovirus

Most prevalent in the winter months, norovirus is the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis outbreaks in the United States resulting in as many as 21 million cases each year and 1.9 million hospital visits. To help reduce the spread of flu within businesses this season, Cintas Corporation offers a checklist of commonly overlooked “hot spots” to help facility managers maintain a clean environment for employees and guests.

 

“A norovirus outbreak can wreak havoc on a business’s productivity,” said John Engel, senior marketing manager, Cintas. “Whether you work in a school, medical building, hotel, restaurant, or even a cruise ship, an aggressive cleaning regimen with effective cleaning, sanitization and disinfection can help reduce the impact or threat of an outbreak.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identifies three primary modes of transmission for norovirus: Eating or drinking contaminated foods or liquids, touching surfaces or objects contaminated with norovirus then putting your fingers in your mouth, or having direct contact with an infected person.

To help minimize the spread of norovirus, facility managers should pay close attention to the following items within a building:

Door handles. Because they are one of the most touched surfaces in a facility, it’s important to regularly wipe down and disinfect all door handles within a building. This includes doors to offices, restrooms, storage areas, refrigerators, as well as the front and back entrances that are often used by employees.

Community tables. Whether it is in a conference room, waiting area or in an employee cafeteria, table surfaces are touched often and should be regularly cleaned and disinfected.

Elevators. Touched daily by employees or guests, elevator buttons can be a likely source for virus transmission. Wipe down elevator buttons on a daily basis and sanitize them at least once a week.

Community benches and chairs. Because they are designated for sitting, seats might be an overlooked part of the cleaning and disinfecting process. To prevent the spread of bacteria and norovirus infection, clean all parts of the seat, including the bottom and arm rests.

Light switches. Although light switches in primary areas of a facility, such as the lobby, might be touched only once a day, light switches in other areas like meeting rooms, offices or the restroom are used more frequently and require additional cleaning.

Employee kitchen equipment. Clean and wipe down the surfaces of all kitchen and break room equipment, including large items such as dishwashers and microwaves and smaller equipment such as coffee makers and toasters.

Drinking fountains. Drinking fountains can become contaminated by a variety of germs from the user’s mouth and hands, which is why it’s important to disinfect their surfaces – particularly their spouts and handles daily.

Railings. Located alongside stairs or at the top of an atrium or overlook, railings and handrails should be cleaned and disinfected daily.

For more: http://bit.ly/1L3n4mM

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Filed under Food Illnesses, Guest Issues, Health, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management

5 Questions, Answers About ADA Compliance

ADA

Hotel News Now has run numerous stories about compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act(ADA), with topics ranging from how to handle service animals to providing equal access to guests.

 

However, sometimes those articles inspired more questions from you. We asked two legal sources to provide some insights on your questions.

1. If someone comes in and asks me for a handicap room, can I ask them for proof they are disabled or handicapped at that point (such as a handicap sticker)?

Minh N. Vu of Seyfarth Shaw: “No. A hotel should not inquire about or require proof of disability when a person requests an accessible room. However, it would be appropriate to say something like: ‘The room you are requesting has features for guests with mobility and/or hearing disabilities. Would you like to continue booking this room?’ This clarification point is helpful to ensure that the person booking the room knows what type of room he or she is booking.”

2. If a hotel does charge more for an ADA room, what recourse is there? 

Minh N. Vu of Seyfarth Shaw: “Hotels cannot charge more for a room just because it is accessible. The rates for comparable accessible and non-accessible rooms must be the same. A person who has been charged more for an accessible room can claim an ADA Title III violation and bring a private lawsuit. He or she can also file a complaint with the Department of Justice.”

3. If a hotel must provide equal access to everyone and not charge an additional amount for service animals, then logic would follow that they cannot charge extra for a refrigerator to keep medication refrigerated. Can you comment on the legalities of this? 

Taylor Burras of Michelman & Robinson: “Hoteliers must make ‘reasonable modifications’ to their standard policies when accommodating a person with a disability. Section 36.301(c) of the Americans with Disabilities Act states: ‘A public accommodation may not impose a surcharge on a particular individual with a disability or any group of individuals with disabilities to cover the costs of measures, such as the provision of auxiliary aids, barrier removal, alternatives to barrier removal, and reasonable modifications in policies, practices, or procedures, that are required to provide that individual or group with the nondiscriminatory treatment required by the Act.’ Thus, it would stand to reason that a hotel cannot charge extra for a refrigerator to keep medication refrigerated.”

4. Are therapy dogs classified as a “Service Dog”? We have seen a recent influx of travelers and they carry a tag that said “Certified Therapy Dog.”

Taylor Burras of Michelman & Robinson: “The ADA defines a ‘service animal’ as ‘any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual or other mental disability.’ However, dogs with the sole function of providing comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA definition. Since they have not been trained to perform a specific job or task, such therapy dogs do not qualify as service animals under the ADA.

“It’s important to note that the ADA makes a distinction between psychiatric service animals and emotional support animals. If the dog has been trained to sense that a neurological event or episode is about to happen and take a specific action that will help prevent, or lessen the impact, that dog would qualify as a service animal. However, if the dog’s mere presence provides comfort or emotional support, that would not be considered a service animal under the ADA.

“Notably, however, some state or local governments have laws that allow people to take emotional support animals into public places, so hotels should check with their state or local government agencies to find out if they may be subject to such a regulation.”

5. Is there an appropriate way to handle a situation where the dog is a service dog but not apparently working? (For example, there was a guest who had to carry the dog who was on chemotherapy and had arthritis in its back legs. He was trained, but it seemed he was retired and it was seemingly more of a rescue situation for a dog that had been in service.)

Minh N. Vu of Seyfarth Shaw: “When a hotel has reason to believe that a dog may not be a service dog, it can ask two questions: ‘Do you need this dog because of a disability?’ If the answer is yes, then the second question that can be asked is: ‘What work or tasks has this animal been trained to perform?’ If the owner cannot identify the work or tasks that the dog has been trained to perform for the person with a disability, the dog is not a service animal.”

For more: http://bit.ly/1ParGsU

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Filed under Guest Issues, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training

Embassy Suites Let Attacker Into Woman’s Room

Embassy

A New Jersey woman who was sexually assaulted while staying at the Embassy Suites in downtown Des Moines has filed a lawsuit claiming staff members unwittingly let her attacker into her seventh-floor room.

Cheri Marchionda is suing both Embassy Suites and Hilton Worldwide, as well as Atrium Finance III, the company that owns the Des Moines hotel.

She was staying at the East Village hotel during a business trip when she awoke sometime after midnight on April 11, 2014, to find Christopher Edward LaPointe standing at the foot of her bed and touching her leg.

LaPointe, 31, a New York resident also staying at the hotel, is now serving a 20-year prison sentence at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center after pleading guilty to burglary and sexual abuse charges in December 2014.

In a federal lawsuit on track to go to trial in Des Moines, lawyers from a Pennsylvania firm representing Marchionda wrote that a manager, a desk clerk and a maintenance man all helped LaPointe get into the woman’s room without asking Marchionda whether he had permission to be there.

Though the Des Moines Register does not typically identify sexual assault victims in criminal cases, it does publish plaintiffs’ names in reporting on civil lawsuits. Reached by phone Wednesday, Marchionda’s lawyers said she did not currently want to speak publicly about the case.

“Each defendant owed a special duty of care to her, including a duty to provide for and assure her safety and security while at the hotel,” attorneys Paul Brandes and Michael Hanamirian wrote in the lawsuit. “To not expose her to burglary, assaults or attacks by others … and to not assist others in burglarizing, assaulting or attacking her.”

The negligence lawsuit was filed in a New Jersey federal court district in June, but was moved Tuesday to Iowa after lawyers couldn’t agree on a settlement during nonbinding mediation earlier in December. None of the defendants have filed an answer in court to the lawsuit, though a motion to dismiss over jurisdictional issues was denied by a judge.

The general manager at the Des Moines hotel did not immediately return a reporter’s phone call this week. Maggie Giddens, a public relations director for the hotel chain, said the company could not publicly comment because of the ongoing litigation.

The claims in Marchionda’s lawsuit are similar to those from another that Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred filed against Embassy Suites and its parent company, Hilton Worldwide, on behalf of a woman who was sexually assaulted while staying at one of their hotels in North Charleston, S.C.

For more: http://dmreg.co/1njFwCb

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Filed under Crime, Guest Issues, Hotel Industry, Liability, Management And Ownership

Workers Compensation Best Practices: What You Should Be Doing

Workers Compensation

Effective cost management of workers compensation claims starts at the time of the injury. Otherwise, studies confirm that the longer it takes to report a claim, the higher the cost.

 

“What happens in the first 24 hours post-injury is critical,” said Michael Bell, executive vice president for U.S. business development with Gallagher Bassett. Industry experts agree that successful management of these expenses must be comprehensive from start to finish, from the time of the injury through recovery and eventual return to work.

Bell estimates that 30% of all injured workers require medical guidance instead of medical care. This means that 30% can be resolved with self-treatment and that a claim doesn’t have to be filed. It eliminates a costly visit to the emergency room, where expenses can quickly climb to $1,000 or more.

The top priority — helping the employee recover and return to work — is best addressed by prompt treatment and proper guidance to direct the patient to the right source of care. For example, if someone is suffering from complex pain issues, a general practitioner may not be the best option for a claim that is not going to end with a simple outcome.

An injury is frequently a new experience for many employees who are looking for guidance. Where that guidance comes from, whether on the employer’s side or the claims handling side, makes a difference. A recommended best practice, Bell said, is a nurse triage process. Nurses will record initial interviews at the site of the accident, a critical time when facts can be clarified and confirmed. A worker will be much more honest in sharing information with a nurse than with a claims professional. A triage nurse also determines whether treatment is even necessary and then guides the patient to the appropriate medical provider.

For more: http://bit.ly/1mQNvXM

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Filed under Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Insurance, Management And Ownership, Workers' Compensation

Guest Experience Trends: What To Watch In ’16

Experience

There have been countless reports and studies on guests trends for the coming year. And there’s no shortage of trend-related articles on Hotel News Now.

But what exactly can travelers expect in 2016 when it comes to the guests experience? HNN sought to answer that question with this virtual roundtable. We asked hotel industry folks with an array of backgrounds the following question:

What’s a trend not on everyone’s radar that will affect the guests experience in 2016?

Experience

On luxury

Mark Harmon, managing partner, Auberge Resorts Collection: “Luxury resort guests today, more than ever before, are seeking custom-designed experiences and highly-personalized service. They’re enjoying sophisticated cuisine in settings that are relaxed and social and they’re embracing service that’s unscripted. Guests are looking to the operator to be the destination advisor and to create a one-of-a-kind experience that surprise and delight. In every aspect of the resort experience, this new approach is taking off, and it will continue to evolve in 2016 and beyond.”

Experience

On hotel design

Harry Wheeler, principal, Group One Partners: “Art is becoming increasingly more important to our hotel designs to enhance the overall guest experience and fulfill their desire for authenticity. Art, sculpture and the reuse of historical artifacts and their integration into the architecture of the building play a huge role in providing travelers with a personal and customized experience and connection with hotel brands. By creating viewing areas and architectural elements to frame this art, we are immersing guests in their cultural surroundings by giving them a hotel with a personality that celebrates its place in the world.”

Experience

On technology

Matthew Schuyler, EVP and chief human resources officer, Hilton Worldwide Holdings: “Rapid advances in technology continue to shape and change how we interact with brands, products and people, changing the way we live and learn. Consumers now expect a customized experience. The challenge for companies is how we leverage technology to provide consistency at scale when needed while, at the same time, providing unique the experience being demanded by our customers. … Our guests, they want to be in the driver’s seat when it comes to their experiences with our company.”

Experience

On F&B

Thomas Conran, principal, Greenwood Hospitality: “The mantra for the coming year will continue to push operators to think outside the box and create a unique multi-faceted experience. The focus to infuse healthy and hyper-local ingredients into food-and-beverage items will be on the rise. More focus on the sustainability and locally sourced animal proteins will occur and whether it be root vegetables, compressed melons or fresh garnishes they will all find their way into bar and nosh offerings, main plate attractions and cocktails as well. Further development in the use of aromatic spices and sauce blends will be found in cocktails, ‘mocktails’ and even snacks. Additionally, ceviche, sashimi and crudo and distinct ethnic flavors will continue to grow in popularity, providing diners an opportunity to explore greater portions of a menu in a single experience through the use of ‘small and share’ plates. Comfort food and stews will continue to gain popularity, even including variations of fried chicken. Be on the lookout for dishes utilizing new and important cuts of meat.

“On the beverage side, mock cocktails and variations of eccentric coffee offerings will become more prevalent alongside the creation of house-made sodas. Gin could become the new bourbon, yet the latter will continue to be a strong performer in the year ahead. The use of infusions and the fresh garnishes will be mainstays for the mixology discipline. Craft beers will remain healthy in 2016 and will be joined at the tap with wine offerings. Additionally, there will be a renewed focus on wine listings to include more white wine selections.

For more: http://bit.ly/1JhLpcQ

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Filed under Guest Issues, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Social Media

Are you ready for overtime changes?

overtime
By now I’m sure most of us have completed our 2016 budgets, but how many of you have started strategic discussions about the effect the proposed overtime regulations in the United States could have on your hotels?

If not, now is the time to start.

On 30 June 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor released its proposed changes to the overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act. If adopted, these changes will affect roughly 4.6 million current salary-exempt employees. While this will affect all segments of the American workforce, given the pay scales of our industry, hoteliers will be significantly affected by these changes, making more employees eligible for overtime compensation.

Under the current regulations, to be eligible for the overtime exemption employees must meet the duties and responsibilities tests under one of the administrative, executive, professional and/or computer professional exemptions. In addition, they must be paid a minimum weekly salary of at least $455 per week (or $23,660 per year).

The new federal overtime plan would increase the minimum weekly salary of $455 per week to $970 per week or $50,440 per year, a 113% increase. This change also would include automatic periodic increases to the salary threshold.

This means that regardless of the duties and responsibilities test, if a salaried employee makes less than $970 a week, he or she would no longer be considered exempt for overtime compensation. Hours would need to be tracked and overtime paid for every hour worked in excess of 40 per week.

As a leader in the hospitality industry, this should have your full attention.

The comment period for the proposed changes ended 4 September 2015, and we should expect to receive the final ruling sometime early to mid-2016. Once released, the changes will be effective within 60 to 120 days. And while we don’t know whether the DOL will adopt the current proposal or bring a new idea to the table, we should expect some changes to the salary threshold, as its last increase was in 2004.

For more: http://bit.ly/1maZAWV

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Filed under Employee Benefits, Finances, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Labor Issues, Management And Ownership

Management Update: “How to Future-Proof Your Hotel Company”

Smart hotel executives spend time dealing not only with the challenges of today but also the challenges of tomorrow. I don’t mean tomorrow as in the day after today. I mean tomorrow as in the future, six months from now, five years from now.

Our copycat industry is historically bad at this. We often take note of obstacles only after we’ve hit them head on. In a daze, we then rush to adopt the tactics of our nearest competitor.

Why? Maybe we’re not looking far enough ahead. Or maybe we’re not looking for the right signals ahead.

Across all industries, executives’ future-proofing exercises typically revolve around the proverbial Next Big Thing—what’s coming down the pike that’s going to change the world as we know it.

During a keynote at this week’s Marketing Outlook Forum, J. Walker Smith of the Futures Company suggested a different tact: The “Vanishing Point” approach.

It’s hard to spot the “Next Big Thing,” Smith said. When they first materialize, they’re often too small to notice. And they come on quickly, which makes it difficult to react when you finally do notice them.

Vanishing Points are the opposite, Smith said. They are the points at which big, established factors of influence wane out of relevance. That creates a vacuum that must be replaced by something new.

Spot them early, and you can begin to anticipate what will fill the void.

It’s like a big tree falling the in the forest, Smith said. That allows sunlight to penetrate the canopy and foster growth for something new.

An example: Screens are getting smaller. What once was a desktop became a smaller laptop which became a smaller tablet which became a smaller smartphone. Now wearables are on the rise, and screens are getting even smaller.

“This is the big vanishing point,” Smith said. “The active digital screen is going away. It is being replaced by sensors, or passive digital.”

Shoes will connect to Google Maps and buzz the right or left foot depending on which way you need to turn. Embedded technologies will track your health and fitness.

Instead of inputting data into a screen, sensors will track your behavior and send you information before you even know you needed it, Smith said.

He called it the “pivot to passive.” In the ecommerce space, Amazon is working to patent anticipatory shopping software that sends you products without you even putting them in your online shopping cart.

Think of that in travel context, Smith imagined. The agonizing booking funnel becomes an intuitive, anticipatory process that actively monitors your behavior and schedules a hotel stay accordingly.

Will it happen tomorrow? I hope not. (I’m not ready for buzzing shoes.) But it could happen one day. Maybe it will even be the Next Big Thing. Time to get out in front of it.

For more: http://bit.ly/1LGI05j

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Filed under Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Technology

Tech Update: “Hotel Apps – Nightmare or Blessing?”

Most hotel chains and many individual hotels have their own hotel apps – a small program for smart phones, which is supposed to facilitate the check-in process, provide additional information, replace the room key card, and eventually support and facilitate the next booking at the hotel.

But are apps really the ultimate solution? These small programs can easily turn into an expensive exercise and they have to be programmed for the various operating systems. Most importantly, an app should be embedded in a centralized guest-oriented IT structure.

The hotel business is often compared with the airlines business. This is, however, misleading, as frequent travelers – the target group hoteliers like to attract – mainly use the same airline. Surveys show, however, that this is not the case when it comes to choosing a hotel. On average, a frequent traveler has four loyalty cards from different hotel companies and eventually has to get used to several apps. Is this a client-oriented approach or just an IT trend, which managers cannot resist to follow?

At the beginning of the Internet age IBM’s slogan was “Jump in!”. But not the ones who just jumped in and followed the latest trends have become or are successful, but those who took some time to verify, analyze and then deliberately chose the right – client-focused – strategy.

On the one hand, an app has to suit the respective overall concept; on the other hand, it has to be accepted by the guests. This is the main difference between the OTAs that focus on the guest, and many hoteliers, who just love their product. The guest should always be in the focus. This rule is taught to every trainee or student in the first year of apprenticeship or studies.

The figures show that consumers increasingly consider apps as annoying. The result is that downloads are stagnating considering the increasing share of smart phones in the total market. Travel apps only come in seventh in the download ranking. There is not even a separate category for hotel apps.

For more: http://bit.ly/1OZ8AdN

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Filed under Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Technology

Hospitality Industry Legal Update: “Critical Control Points in Liquor Liability”

In this article, dram shop and liquor liability expert, Jeff Jannarone discusses critical control points in bar operations, including recourse options for handling intoxicated patrons.

Every bar or restaurant that serves alcoholic beverages is at risk of having intoxicated patrons. However, the mere presence of an intoxicated patron within an establishment does not necessarily indicate a breakdown in an establishment’s training or operations, nor does it necessarily indicate a violation of the standard of care within the industry.

The presence of intoxicated people in any environment increases the likelihood of crimes and/or injuries. While bars and restaurants are responsible for limiting alcohol consumption, it is challenging to prevent every patron from becoming intoxicated; consequently, the way that an establishment responds to the presence of an intoxicated person is often the crux of a liquor liability dispute.

Questions that are commonly at issue in liquor liability disputes include:

  • How effective was staff at identifying the intoxicated patron?
  • Was the intoxicated patron continued to be served alcohol?
  • What measures did the establishment take in safeguarding their customers and the public?

These issues represent critical control points that test how effectively staff was prepared to handle potentially dangerous situations.

Many states have a requirement that businesses that are permitted to serve alcohol not serve anyone who is visibly intoxicated; permittees also are responsible for providing proper measures to ensure the safety of any intoxicated person on their licensed premises (or when they leave?). These requirements are reflected in the standards of care for the industry and reinforced by the various professional training programs that promote the responsible service of alcohol (e.g., TIPS, TAM, RAMP, etc.). The modern standard of care goes well beyond simply removing drunken people from an establishment or passively posting the phone number for a taxi service. A well prepared bar or restaurant has a variety of best practice recourse options when they identify an intoxicated person.

For more: http://bit.ly/1MRhbcq

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Filed under Guest Issues, Hotel Bar, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management