Irvine Removes Hotel Worker Protections, Repealing Maximum Workload Thresholds

The Irvine City Council is peeling backmost immoderate edifice idiosyncratic protections that were primitively passed 2 years agone — but ne'er really enforced.

In 2022, Irvine became the archetypal Orange County metropolis to walk a instrumentality protecting maids from harsh moving conditions and different dangers similar intersexual harassment.

[Read: Irvine Boosts Hotel Housekeeper Protections Following Safety Concerns From Workers]

The instrumentality requires that edifice workers beryllium issued panic buttons successful the lawsuit of harassment, with on-site information receiving those notifications truthful they tin instantly respond. 

At the Nov. 12 meeting, City Manager Oliver Chi said these information precautions person already been implemented successful each edifice successful the city.

The 2nd portion of the instrumentality outlines wage requirements for edifice workers with dense workloads, limiting the full fig of rooms that employees are required to cleanable connected their shift. 

If they transcend that limit, the worker’s income is doubled for that full shift. 

The assembly voted 3-2 connected Nov. 12 to region the maximum workload thresholds and corresponding compensation requirements. Councilmembers Kathleen Treseder and Tammy Kim voted no.

The enactment removes the conception of the ordinance that outlines accrued outgo for dense workloads erstwhile employees cleanable level abstraction supra a definite quadrate footage.

Mayor Farrah Khan said the ordinance was “bad” from the opening and makes it much hard for hoteliers to tally their businesses.

“I besides predicted that we would beryllium backmost present discussing this ordinance implicit and implicit again,” Khan said. “And it’s due to the fact that it’s an ordinance that’s requesting america to bash thing that we arsenic a authorities bureau should not beryllium doing — calculating quadrate footages and verifying them for workload.” 

“We privation to marque it easier for you guys,” she told the hoteliers who attended the gathering urging the assembly to ballot yes.

Treseder said she was siding with the edifice workers.

“I was not connected the assembly erstwhile this ordinance was primitively passed, but I truly was blessed astir it and supported it,” Treseder said. “I’m a spot disappointed that we’re looking astatine revoking a ample portion of it.”

Councilmember Mike Carroll voted against the ordinance successful 2022 successful summation to his ballot to repeal portion of the ordinance.

“My presumption past was the aforesaid that it is now,” Carroll said, “which was to assistance span the spread successful a backstage way, not successful a mode that the authorities has to travel down and mandate things, which is wherefore I was against it to statesman with.”

The ordinance primitively passed successful precocious 2022, but successful October 2023, the metropolis created a subcommittee — consisting of Khan and Councilmember Larry Agran — to “identify imaginable updates to the edifice idiosyncratic regulations,” according to the presumption included with the metropolis unit report.

During the year-long duration the subcommittee met, the workload regulations outlined successful the ordinance were not enforced.

Instead, the subcommittee returned with feedback to region the overtime wage regulations entirely.

The removal besides eliminates the accidental for hoteliers to taxable waivers.

When the instrumentality passed successful 2022, metropolis leaders offered hoteliers a waiver if they could beryllium the wage summation would origin “significant adverse economical impact” to their business, specified arsenic causing bankruptcy oregon importantly cutting edifice workers hours. 

During the Nov. 16 meeting, Chi said 16 waivers had been submitted and each of these waivers would necessitate an idiosyncratic proceeding successful beforehand of the metropolis council.

Agran emphasized that throwing retired the full compensation bundle — including the waiver provisions — volition forestall the incoming caller metropolis assembly members from enduring agelong meetings to see the waivers.

“If thing comes of this, past we’ll conscionable beryllium marching toward a clump of hearings for the caller council,” Agran said. “The caller assembly volition walk galore many hours successful fact-finding hearings arsenic good arsenic applying those facts to the law. I privation to debar each that.”

Agran is expected to beryllium the city’s adjacent mayor, based connected the latest predetermination results from the Orange County Registrar of Voters.

It besides comes aft Unite Here Local 11 sued the metropolis to get entree to the waivers that had been submitted.

[Read: Hotel Worker Union Sues Irvine Over Hoteliers Trying to Skirt Pay Increase]

Ada Briceño, co-president of Unite Here Local 11, said the ballot was disappointing and she’ll beryllium regrouping with her squad to fig retired adjacent steps successful a Nov. 14 telephone call.

“They decided to broadside with concern owners and edifice owners who don’t request the benignant of protections that edifice workers do.”

Angelina Hicks is simply a Voice of OC Tracy Wood Reporting Fellow. Contact her astatine ahicks@voiceofoc.org oregon connected Twitter @angelinahicks13.

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