Introduction to Hospitality Industry Law

Module 1: Introduction to Hospitality Industry Law Law is a guideline to the operation of all aspects of the society that must follow. To able to follow, it is important to know the laws that operate within our existence. Importance of Knowledge of Laws in the Hospitality Industry Employees, managers and other staff members need to know enough about the various hospitality laws or innkeepers' laws as they are sometimes referred to in state law, to avoid breaking them. This goes for hotels and other lodging places, restaurants, and also bars, country clubs, spas, convention facilities and any other places that serve food or provide places for overnight stays. Failing to follow local, state and federal laws can result in fines, lawsuits and negative publicity, all of which can be disastrous to a hospitality firm. 1. Keeping Customers Safe Food safety laws play a major role in the hospitality industry, and knowledge about how to clean and store food can keep your customers safe and help your business avoid lawsuits and fines. Other safety laws include the Hotel and Motel Fire Safety Act, which maintains a list of hotels that meet minimum fire safety guidelines. If your hotel follows these guidelines, federal employees can stay at your business, increasing your customer base, and customers can rest easy knowing that your hotel is invested in keeping them safe in the event of a fire. 2. Protecting Your Reputation Knowledge of hospitality regulations protects your business's reputation. Discriminating, against people on the basis of sex, race, religion, disability status or age can draw unwanted negative attention. Staff members should be trained to understand what constitutes discrimination so they're aware of their legal obligation to respect diverse workers and patrons. 3. Honoring Agreements and Fair Marketing Workers in the hospitality industry may be members of unions, and some unions have specific agreements with employers governing wages, working conditions and benefits. Your management staff needs to honor these agreements, as well as any contracts you've signed with customers, vendors and contractors. Similarly, hotels must adopt fair and honest marketing practices. Deceptive marketing is illegal. You may at times be overwhelmed by the amount of record-keeping in the hospitality industry. Yet, such records could become quite valuable resources if you need to prove adherence to any of the numerous hospitality laws. All hospitality businesses must keep accurate and up-to-date employment agreements and payroll tax paperwork. 4. Record-Keeping for Hospitality Laws Employees who know and understand the hospitality laws can keep more accurate records and will be less likely to throw away or delete important documentation. Without proper record-keeping, your business could get into trouble with a variety of governmental agencies, over or underpay employees and even miss out on important tax deductions. CHAPTER I DEFINITION OF TERMS Section 1. Definition. For purposes of these Rules, the following shall mean: a. Hotel – a building, edifice or premises or a completely independent part thereof, which is used for the regular reception, accommodation or lodging of travelers and tourist and the provision of services incidental thereto for a fee. b. Resort – any place or places with pleasant environment and atmosphere conducive to comfort, healthful relaxation and rest, offering food, sleeping accommodation and recreational facilities to the public for a fee or remuneration. c. Tourist Inn – a lodging establishment catering to transients which does not meet the minimum requirements of an economy hotel. d. Apartel – any building or edifice containing several independent and furnished or semi-furnished apartments, regularly leased to tourists and travelers for dwelling on a more or less long term basis and offering basic services to its tenants, similar to hotels. e. Pension house – a private or family-operated tourist boarding house, tourist guest house or tourist lodging house employing non-professional domestic helpers regularly catering to tourists and travelers, containing several independent lettable rooms, providing common facilities such as toilets, bathrooms/showers, living and dining rooms and/or kitchen and where a combination of board and lodging may be provided. f. Motorist hotel (Motel) - any structure with several separate units, primarily located along the highway with individual or common parking space at which motorists may obtain lodging and, in some instances, meals. g. Department or DOT – the Department of Tourism. h. Accreditation – a certification issued by the Department that the holder is recognized by the Department as having complied with its minimum standards in the operation of the establishment concerned which shall ensure the safety, comfort and convenience of the tourists.