Legal Issue - HospitalityLawyer.com®

Hackers Use New Tactic at Austrian Hotel: Locking the Doors

by Dan Bilefsky in Insurance & Loss Prevention, Legal, Lodging, Risk Management, Safety & Security. Posted January 31, 2017

Hackers Use New Tactic at Austrian Hotel: Locking Doors The ransom demand arrived one recent morning by email, after about a dozen guests were locked out of their rooms at the lakeside Alpine hotel in Austria. The electronic key system at the picturesque Romantik Seehotel Jaegerwirt had been infiltrated, and the hotel was locked out ...

Employers Required to Use New Form I-9

by Andrea Kirshenbaum in Human Resources, Legal. Posted January 30, 2017

As of January 22, 2017, employers are required to use the new Form I-9 issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). A link to the new form can be found here. Employers who fail to use the updated form can be subject to fines and penalties, which nearly doubled in 2016 (the minimum ...

Supreme Court Agrees To Wade Into Class Action Waiver Conflict

by Fisher Phillips in Food & Beverage, Human Resources, Legal, Lodging. Posted January 20, 2017

In a widely expected move, the U.S. Supreme Court just agreed to settle a dispute about whether employers can use mandatory class action waivers with their workers. The decision, which should be issued by June 2017, will provide clarity to a topic that has become increasingly muddled over the past year. Employers will spend the ...

Where Does Hotel Industry Joint Employment Liability End?

by Buchalter in Hotel Development, Human Resources, Legal, Lodging. Posted January 6, 2017

A big issue facing hotel owners is who is the employer—is it the owner or the manager, the franchisor or the franchisee, the client or the contractor? Who has the liability for employment claims? Many hotel owners today are real estate investment trusts, private funds, insurance companies and other institutional owners, which muddies dividing lines, ...

Establishing “Workweeks” For Exempt Employees

by John Thompson in Human Resources, Legal. Posted January 4, 2017

We have written previously about how important the “workweek” concept is in complying with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum-wage and overtime requirements. An FLSA workweek is a fixed, regularly-recurring period of seven, consecutive, 24-hour periods that management expressly adopts for FLSA purposes. Employers must select and document at least one such workweek (or ...

Key Issues in Hotel Sales and Acquisitions

by Thomson Reuters in Hotel Development, Legal. Posted December 19, 2016

Buying and selling hotels is, in many ways, similar to buying and selling other types of commercial real estate, such as office buildings, shopping centers, or other mixed-use properties. However, potential purchasers and sellers of hotels must understand the key differences and unique issues that arise in a hotel sale or acquisition. This Note discusses: ...

Anticipating Trump’s Impact on Labor Relations in the Hotel Industry

by Dana Kravetz in Food & Beverage, Human Resources, Legal. Posted December 12, 2016

Unlike his oval office predecessor, President-elect Donald Trump is expected to limit federal labor and employment agency activism in wage and hour and other employment-related matters. Hotel owners and franchisors, which in recent months have experienced numerous workforce-related challenges, are likely to witness significant labor and employment policy shifts, a few of which are detailed ...

Is Your Hotel Security Staff Exposing You to Liability?

by Michelman Robinson in Hotel Development, Insurance & Loss Prevention, Legal, Lodging, Risk Management. Posted November 21, 2016

BY DAVID M. SAMUELS, ALICIA O’BRIEN Are you a hotel owner and/or operator who employs a private security staff? If so, do not let administrative inattention threaten your business. Take a few key steps to reduce your potential liability. California regulations effective since 2011 require that all hoteliers employing their own security guards must be ...

Reading the Fine Print: Changes in Legal Framework for the Assessment and Display of Service Charges

by Garvey Schubert Barer in Food & Beverage, Hotel Development, Legal, Lodging. Posted October 24, 2016

by Ruth Walters Service charges, administrative charges, surcharges, house fees—whatever you call those charges assessed for food and beverage service in restaurants and in hotels—the rules about how they need to be disclosed to guests and how they must be allocated are propagating. More and more cities, municipalities and other local legal bodies are taking ...

Hotel Price Gouging

by Sandy Garfinkel in Legal, Lodging. Posted October 20, 2016

When Hurricane Matthew barreled down on parts of Haiti, Cuba and the Dominican Republic, and then veered toward several southeastern states, those who could fled while others waited it out in emergency shelters or with families. But for many, hotels are the only option. With natural disasters like hurricanes, floods or tornadoes seeming to happen ...

Legal Issue ( Page 12 )