The Safe Hotels Act: NYC’s New Hotel Licensing Requirement

At the end of July, New York City Council Member Julie Menin introduced new legislation that sent New York City hotel owners, operators and trade associations into a tizzy. The bill, known as the Safe Hotels Act, not only required hotels to obtain a license in order to operate within the City but effectively rendered the business model of how hotels operate illegal. This led to significant revisions, which reflected input from the hotel industry, and the bill was ultimately signed into law on November 4, 2024, by Mayor Eric Adams.

Below is a summary of key components of the Safe Hotels act that hotel and hospitality industry operators will need to consider.

Hotel License

Hotels operating within New York City cannot operate without a license issued by the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP). Licenses have a two-year term following an application process which requires payment of a $350 fee and an application which requires demonstration by the applicant that it has “adequate procedures and safeguards” to ensure compliance with the requirements of the law relating to staffing, safety, guest room cleanliness, direct employment of certain employees and providing employees with panic button technology. Curiously, this requirement is satisfied if the hotel is party to a collective bargaining agreement that incorporates these provisions. When issued, the license must be displayed in publicly visible areas of the hotel where other legally required notices may be displayed.

A license cannot be revoked without first giving the licensee 30 days’ notice to correct the condition giving rise to the violation.

For renewals, a licensee who has submitted the requisite application forms and fees can continue to operate a hotel until receiving a determination from DCWP; DCWP’s failure to act on a renewal application prior to a license’s expiration is not cause to cease operation of a hotel. The existence of service disruptions (as defined in NYC Admin. Code §20-850) or any previously remedied violations pursuant to NYC Admin. Code §20-851 do not constitute a basis for DCWP to fail to approve, deny, suspend, revoke or fail to renew a license.

Hotel licenses are not transferable except if the transfer qualifies for exemption under the Displaced Hotel Service Workers Act (NYC Admin. Code §22-510).

Service Requirements

A hotel operator must schedule at least one employee to provide continuous coverage of the front desk. Front desk staff must be available to confirm the identity of guests checking into a hotel. During an overnight shift, operators may use a security guard who is able to assist guests and has undergone human trafficking recognition training in lieu of front desk staff.

Each hotel must maintain safe conditions for guests and hotel workers. All “large” hotels (those with more than 400 guest rooms) must schedule at least one security guard to provide continuous coverage on the premises of such hotel while any guest room in the hotel is occupied.

Hotel operators must maintain the cleanliness of guest rooms, sanitary facilities, and common areas. Guest rooms must be provided with clean towels, sheets, and pillowcases prior to occupancy by a new guest and upon a guest’s request during their stay. Occupied guest rooms must be cleaned and trash removed daily unless a guest affirmatively declines such services. Hotels cannot impose any fee for daily room cleaning nor offer any discount or incentive to forgo daily room cleaning.

Hotels cannot accept reservations for a guest room for a duration of less than 4 hours (unless an “airport hotel” which would be a hotel within one mile of either LaGuardia or JFK Airports). The law also explicitly prohibits use of a hotel for the purposes of human trafficking.

Direct Employment

Except for “small hotels” (hotels with fewer than 100 guest rooms), a hotel owner must directly employ all “core employees” which are employees whose job classification is related to housekeeping, front desk, or front service including, but not limited to, room attendants and bell or door staff. Among those not considered to be core employees are: laundry and valet employees; concierge agents; and engineering and maintenance employees. The concepts of “directly employ” or “direct employment” are defined as a relationship between an employer and an employee in which there is no intermediary in such relationship.

Except for small hotel owners, contracting to third parties for core employees, including staffing agencies or other contractors or subcontractors, is not permitted except an owner may retain a single operator to manage all hotel operations involving core employees on an owner’s behalf, which includes employment of core employees for the hotel by the operator. If an owner engages an operator, the owner is not then required to be a direct employer of core employees.

Operators must provide core employees with human trafficking recognition training that complies with the NY state law on human trafficking awareness and training for hotels (NYGBL §205). A hotel operator must provide human trafficking recognition training to new core employees within 60 days of employment. Operators also must provide panic buttons to core employees whose duties involve entering occupied guest rooms at no cost to the employee.

The new law also prohibits an operator from taking any retaliatory action against any employee for any whistleblowing concerning any policy or practice that an employee reasonably and in good faith believes is in violation of the law, poses a substantial and specific danger to the public health or safety, or subjects an employee to unusually dangerous conditions which are not normally part of the employee’s job.

Violations

Violations are subject to civil penalties ranging from $500 for a first violation up to $5,000 for four or more violations for the same offense within a two-year period from the first offense.

The effective date of the new law is early May 2025 with certain limited exceptions.