BILL NUMBER: SB 912	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Lieu

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2011

   An act to add Section 2270 to the Labor Code, relating to
employment.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 912, as introduced, Lieu. Hotel housekeeping: labor and
sanitary standards.
   Existing law requires that all employers comply with specified
standards relating to working conditions and sanitary facilities.
Existing law further provides that local governmental bodies may
adopt labor standards that are more stringent than those adopted by
the state.
   This bill would provide that a hotel housekeeping worker shall not
be required to clean a hotel room in less than 40 minutes on
average, and would establish other sanitary standards for the
cleaning of hotel rooms. In addition, the bill would permit a city,
county, or city and county to adopt specified ordinances establishing
labor and sanitary standards for hotel housekeeping, including
standards that are more protective of public health and hotel worker
safety than the state standards established by this bill.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) In recent years, many hotel chains have increased the
workloads of their housekeeping staff, including one chain in
particular that now requires a single housekeeper to clean up to 30
rooms per day.
   (b) Studies have shown that hotel rooms are often not cleaned
sufficiently to eliminate contagious germs left by prior occupants.
   (c) Studies have shown that hotel housekeepers frequently suffer
painful and disabling injuries due to the amount and nature of their
work. While the injury rate for construction and manufacturing
workers is 4.3 recorded injuries per 100 full-time equivalent
workers, the average injury rate for hotel housekeepers is 7.6
recorded injuries per 100 full-time equivalent workers, with one
hotel chain in particular having a rate of 10.8 recorded injuries per
100 full-time equivalent workers.
   (d) The Legislature hereby confirms existing law allowing local
government agencies to adopt regulations to address hotel cleanliness
and hotel housekeeping worker safety.
  SEC. 2.  Section 2270 is added to the Labor Code, to read:
   2270.  (a) A hotel housekeeping worker shall not be required to
clean a hotel room in less than 40 minutes on average. The cleaning
of a hotel room, after use by a hotel guest, shall include changing
the bed linens and washing or wiping with disinfectant all doorknobs,
bathroom handles, and remote control devices.
   (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a city, county, or
city and county may adopt ordinances establishing labor and sanitary
standards for hotel housekeeping, including standards that are more
protective of public health and hotel worker safety than the
standards established in subdivision (a). Ordinances adopted pursuant
to this subdivision may do all of the following:
   (1) Require hotels to allow housekeeping workers a specified
minimum amount of time to clean each type of room or set a maximum
square footage or number of rooms assigned to a worker to clean.
   (2) Require a premium rate of pay and additional rest periods if a
housekeeping worker is required to clean more than a specified
amount.
   (3) Allow for waiver of labor standards through a collective
bargaining agreement.
   (4) Provide for regulatory fees to cover the costs of enforcement
of those ordinances.
   (5) Contain any other provision deemed appropriate and necessary
by the city, county, or city and county to serve the purposes of this
section.
   (c) Ordinances adopted by a county pursuant to subdivision (b) may
apply to hotels in an incorporated city within the county if that
city has not adopted ordinances that are more protective of public
health and hotel worker safety than the ordinances adopted by the
county.
  SEC. 3.  The provisions of this act are severable. If any provision
of this act or its application is held invalid, that invalidity
shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given
effect without the invalid provision or application.