BILL NUMBER: AB 606	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 27, 2004
	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 23, 2004
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 17, 2004
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 13, 2003

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Nunez
   (Principal coauthor:  Senator Burton)

                        FEBRUARY 19, 2003

   An act to add Section 512.3 to the Labor Code, relating to
employment conditions.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 606, Nunez.   Employment conditions:  hotel room attendants.
   Existing law prohibits an employer from employing an employee for
a work period of more than 5 hours per day without providing the
employee with a meal period of at least 30 minutes and provides that
any employer who fails to provide a meal period, as specified, is
guilty of a misdemeanor.  Existing law further prohibits an employer
from requiring any employee to work during a meal or rest period
mandated by any applicable order of the Industrial Welfare
Commission.
   This bill would require employers to provide hotel room attendants
with a rest period in the middle of each work period.  The bill
would require the rest period to be based on the total hours worked
daily at a rate of 15 minutes of rest time for every four hours of
work, as specified.  The bill would require employers of hotel room
attendants to make available a temperature-controlled room on the
premises for employees to use during their rest period.  The bill
would require that an employer who fails to provide a rest period to
a hotel room attendant pay the attendant three times the attendant's
regular hourly rate of pay for each workday that the rest period is
not provided and would subject the employer to existing criminal
liability. By requiring employers to provide employees with a
specified rest period and a room for employees to use during that
rest period, the violation of which is a misdemeanor, this bill would
impose a state-mandated local program.
  The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state.  Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  This act shall be known as the "Humane Treatment of
Hotel Room Attendants Act of 2004."
  SEC. 2.  The Legislature finds and declares that hotel room
attendants are subjected to arduous working conditions that include
long hours, heavy lifting, pushing of carts, and a lack of adequate
and uninterrupted rest periods and meal periods during the workday.
   Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to enact this
statute as remedial legislation to enhance and protect the working
conditions of hotel room attendants employed in this state.
  SEC. 3.  Section 512.3 is added to the Labor Code, to read:
   512.3.  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, every
hotel room attendant shall receive a rest period which, insofar as is
practicable, shall be in the middle of each work period.  The rest
period shall be based on the total hours worked daily at a rate of
fifteen minutes of rest time for every four hours of work or major
fraction thereof.  Authorized rest period time shall be counted as
hours worked for which there shall be no deduction from wages.
   (b) Every employer of hotel room attendants shall make available
at all times a temperature controlled room on the employer's premises
with adequate seating and tables for the purpose of allowing hotel
room attendants to enjoy rest periods in accordance with subdivision
(a) or meal periods in accordance with subdivision (a) of Section 512
in a clean and comfortable environment. The room shall have a source
of potable drinking water.
   (c) For the purposes of this section, "hotel room attendant" means
a person who cleans or puts in order guest rooms in a hotel or other
establishment licensed for transient occupancy.
   (d) Each employer of hotel room attendants shall keep a complete
and accurate record of the meal and rest periods of its employees.
   (e) The provisions of Section 226.7 are applicable to the rest
periods required pursuant to this section.
   (f) In addition to any other remedy available under law, an
employer who violates this section shall pay to the hotel room
attendant a civil penalty equal to three times the attendant's
regular hourly rate of pay for each workday that the rest period was
not provided.
  SEC. 4.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.