Tag Archives: Minimum Wage

Hospitality Industry Legal Update: “Why Union Leaders Want L.A. to Give Them a Minimum Wage Loophole”

“Some see thinly veiled self-interest at work in labor’s quest for waivers in minimum wage laws. Glenn Spencer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said that Southern CaliforniaLA minimum wage in particular shows the potential benefits of such provisions for private-sector unions at a time when many are struggling to stanch long-term declines in membership”

One of the most divisive issues that Los Angeles City Council members expect to confront when they return this week from a summer recess will be a proposal by labor leaders to exempt unionized workers from the city’s new minimum wage.

The push for the loophole, which began in the final days before the law’s passage, caused a backlash rarely seen in this pro-union city and upended perceptions of labor’s role in the fight to raise pay for the working poor. Union activists were among the most stalwart backers of L.A.’s ordinance raising the wage to $15 by 2020, and argued against special consideration for nonprofits and small businesses.

Rusty Hicks, head of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, said the union waiver would be a routine protection against challenges to the ordinance under federal labor law. “This is about staying consistent with previous provisions and crafting something that will withstand legal scrutiny and delay,” Hicks said in May. In California, he added, “we’ve seen every city that has passed a minimum wage include this kind of a provision.”

A Times review of other cities’ minimum wage laws, as well as interviews with labor leaders and legal experts, suggests the truth is more complicated.

Guarantees that organized workers should be allowed to bargain for a subminimum wage appear to have scant legal justification, some experts said. They are not a universal feature of local wage ordinances, in California or other states. San Diego, the largest California city to raise its minimum wage in recent years before L.A., did not include such an exception.

For more: http://lat.ms/1OLyDlk

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Filed under Employee Benefits, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership

Hospitality Industry Management Update: “New Year, New Challenges: What Hospitality Employers Need to Know”

As state and federal budget cuts tend to wane, the Department of Labor (DOL) is expected to step up enforcement against hospitality employers in the coming year. restaurant workerBecause the DOL considers the hospitality industry as a “fissured” industry, owners, franchisors, franchisees and management companies should be prepared to deal with inquiries, particularly in the areas of tipped employees and the misclassification of employees.

According the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the hospitality sector added 321,000 additional jobs in 2014. With all those new employees, as well as the continued addition of jobs we expect to see in coming year, here are our top predictions for labor law issues that will play a vital role in the hospitality industry in 2015.

For more: http://bit.ly/17E9sRJ

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

Hospitality Industry Management Update: “Industry Groups Sue Over L.A.’s Minimum Wage for Hotel Workers”

The two industry groups are seeking an injunction to block enforcement of the hotel wage law, which was approved in September. The measure is set to go into effect in July for hotels with at least 300 rooms and expand a year later to hotels with at least 150 roomsla minimum wage…backers of the measure said it would prevent hotel workers from having to take on second jobs that keep them from seeing their families. They also argued that the hotels in Los Angeles have benefited from the city’s efforts at boosting the tourism industry.

Two hotel industry groups filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday challenging a new Los Angeles law that requires a higher minimum wage at the city’s larger hotels.

The lawsuit from the American Hotel and Lodging Assn. and the Asian American Hotel Owners Assn. contends that the City Council’s decision to impose a $15.37 per hour minimum wage is preempted by federal labor law and therefore unenforceable.

The two groups also say the city is interfering with labor relations and union organizing at its larger hotels. And they voiced fears that L.A.’s ordinance could be replicated elsewhere in the country.

For more: http://lat.ms/13aZQeG

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Filed under Employee Benefits, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership

Hospitality Industry Legal Update: “Hotel Industry Threatens Legal Action Over New Wage Law”

Supporters dispute claims that the move was intended to help labor groups increase membership and say the higherLA mayor wages will lift working families out of poverty. Under the law, hotels with union workers can be exempted from the $15.37 hourly wage if workers agree…City Hall leaders on Wednesday rejected the criticisms. Councilman Mike Bonin, who advocated passage of the law, questioned the prediction that 533 hotel jobs will be lost in his Westside district.

Ratcheting up their opposition to a new law requiring larger hotels to pay workers $15.37 an hour, representatives for the hotel industry on Wednesday threatened to sue the city over the ordinance.

Standing outside Los Angeles City Hall, hotel operators and business leaders said they are considering a lawsuit based on federal laws. They also released new numbers predicting 1,488 jobs — including at least 140 in the San Fernando Valley — would be lost as Los Angeles hotels lay off workers to compensate for the wage hike.

For more: http://bit.ly/1ugf6kx

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Filed under Employee Benefits, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management

Hospitality Industry Management Update: “Council to Vote on $15.37 Minimum Wage for Workers at Big Hotels”

“Several council members favor the increase, including Councilman Curren Price, who said it would make Los Angeles hotel workers wages“a progressive leader” for the nation…Some business groups warn that hotels could be forced to cut jobs if the plan passes. They cited a city-requested report released Monday that said hotel developers will bypass Los Angeles if the ordinance is approved.”

The drive to boost minimum wages in Los Angeles could reach a milestone this week as the City Council votes on a proposal to raise the hourly pay of thousands of workers at big hotels to at least $15.37.

That would be more than $2 an hour higher than the minimum wage Mayor Eric Garcetti is advocating for workers citywide.

Labor groups are rallying behind the plan now before lawmakers, saying that it could pull hotel workers’ families out of poverty and inject more spending into the local economy. Several council members favor the increase, including Councilman Curren Price, who said it would make Los Angeles “a progressive leader” for the nation.

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Filed under Employee Benefits, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership

Hospitality Industry Management Update: “Mayor Eric Garcetti Announces Minimum Wage Proposal for Los Angeles”

The proposal comes as the Los Angeles City Council is considering raising the wages of non-unionized hotel workers to $15.37 per hour.LA mayor Hotels near LAX that do not provide health care are already required to pay their employees a similar wage. Hotel operators that do offer health insurance must pay workers about $11 per hour. 

Following in the footsteps of cities like Seattle and San Francisco, Mayor Eric Garcetti made a Labor Day pitch for an increase, over the next three years, in the Los Angeles minimum wage to more than $13 per hour.

The mayor made the announcement in a South L.A. park at what’s billed as a “rally to address poverty in Los Angeles.”  His proposal would increase the city’s minimum wage to $13.25 an hour by 2017 and then tie the wage to the Consumer Price Index for urban wage earners.

For more: http://bit.ly/1uAHNqs

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

Hospitality Industry Employee Update: ” L.A. Hotel Workers Could Get $15.37 an Hour — the Highest Minimum Wage in the U.S.”

“…Hotel operators point to a report from the California Hotel & Lodging Association that shows severe job cuts from the higher wage,cash which will hurt the L.A. economy. But proponents say the local economy will benefit, because workers who earn more money will spend more…”

Barack Obama wants $10.10. Seattle got $15.

Now, Los Angeles hotel workers might be outdoing them all with the country’s highest minimum wage: $15.37 an hour, thanks to a new city ordinance that is expected to pass by Labor Day.

It would be a boon for Sandra Diaz, and 10,000 workers like her, who keep the hotel industry running in L.A. by cleaning rooms, doing laundry, and working the kitchens.

Fresh off a decision by Seattle’s city council last month to raise its hourly minimum wage to $15, L.A. lawmakers say the city’s booming tourism should translate to higher wages for hotel workers.

For more: http://bit.ly/1zpDClh

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Filed under Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Labor Issues, Management And Ownership

Hospitality Industry Legal Update: “Lawsuits to Recover Unpaid Wages and Damages For 89 Workers at Five Hotels Filed by US Labor Department”

“…Investigators from the division’s Columbus District Office found violations of the FLSA’s minimum wage, overtime and record keeping provisions for 61 workers jointly employed by Darpan Management and Fantastic Cleaning. Fantastic Cleaning, which provided housekeepers, attendants and laundry DOL staff for the hotels owned and operated by Darpan Management, misclassified the housekeepers, who were employees, as independent contractors. These employees were paid by the room and frequently did not earn enough to make the federal minimum wage…”

The U.S. Department of Labor has filed two lawsuits in the federal district court in Columbus against Darpan Management Inc.; five hotels the company owns and manages; and its owners, Darshan Shah, Vibhakar Shah and Prakash Patel.

One of the lawsuits addresses violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage and overtime provisions for the hotel staff directly working for Darpan Management, and the other addresses similar violations for workers jointly employed by Fantastic Cleaning Ltd., a company that provided hotel staff to Darpan Management. The two lawsuits seek back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages for 89 workers.

For more: http://www.norwalkreflector.com/article/4378786

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Filed under Claims, Employment Practices Liability, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Labor Issues, Management And Ownership

Hospitality Industry Employee Update: “L.A. May Hike Minimum Wage for Hotel Workers to Highest in U.S.”

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“Hotel owners and their representatives say a $15 minimum would trigger higher room rates and worker layoffs, as managements struggle to keep costs under control. The owners argue it’s unfair to take a piecemeal approach to pay rules — singling out a few industries or geographic areas.”

Labor leaders hope a proposal that would dramatically raise the minimum wage in Los Angeles for workers at large hotels to roughly $15 an hour will be a step toward pay hikes for other industries.

Members of the City Council expected to propose that large hotels pay their workers $15.37 an hour – more than double the national minimum of $7.25 an hour and push far above California’s rate of $8.

Union leaders want the increase to apply at hotels with 100 rooms or more, saying such a hike would lift housekeepers, busboys and maintenance workers out of poverty and inject much-needed cash into a  languorous local economy.

For more: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-la-minimum-wage-hike-hotel-workers-20140114,0,2611025.story#axzz2qOCybJiD

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Filed under Employee Benefits, Labor Issues, Management And Ownership, Uncategorized

Hospitality Industry Employment Risks: California Restaurants Fined More Than $1.9 Million For “Wage Theft Violations”; 47 Workers Paid Cash, No Minimum Wage Or Overtime

“…Some of the workers were forced to sign timecards containing falsified information stating they had only worked between five and six Hospitality Industry Wage Violation Lawsuitshours each day, the agency said. Others were paid in cash with no information on the total hours worked, rate of pay or deductions provided…The 47 workers are due $1,086,436 in unpaid minimum wages, $376,640 in unpaid overtime and $153,582 for no meal period premiums, the agency said. In addition, a total of $189,250 in civil penalties were assessed for wage violations…”

State labor regulators fined two Ukiah restaurants more than $1.9 million Thursday for alleged wage theft violations over three years. The violations at Walter Cafe and Ruen Tong Thai Cuisine involved 47 workers and included overlong workdays, failure to pay overtime and the forced falsification of timecards.

The fine “is one of the larger audits for the restaurant industry,” said Hennessy. The investigation is ongoing, she added, leaving open the possibility of additional penalties. Ritdet and Walter are being held both individually and jointly liable for the alleged Labor Code violations.

Employees at their two restaurants regularly worked at least 11.5 hours a day, six or seven days a week, with no meal breaks, according to a Labor Standards Enforcement division news release. The restaurants did not pay minimum wage or overtime, in violation of the law, according to the agency.

The investigation started in June 2012 after an anonymous complaint was filed. It was conducted by state and federal labor regulators and examined employment practices at the restaurants from June 19, 2010, through June 15, 2013.

For more: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20131114/articles/131119756

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Filed under Employment Practices Liability, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Theft