CITY HALL — Chicago hotels would be required to give their workers a panic button to carry in an effort to protect them from being sexually assaulted or harassed by guests under a new law endorsed Monday by a City Council committee.
Hotels would also be required to have a written policy against sexual harassment as part of the new law authored by 8th Ward Ald. Michelle Harris and backed by the Chicago Federation of Labor, whose representatives told the Committee on Workforce Development and Audit that hotel workers have been forced to endure sexual misconduct at work.
The panic button system would alert hotel security, according to the proposal.
That policy must outline how to handle complaints from workers about guests and encourage workers to report misconduct without fear of retaliation or termination. Employees would be guaranteed paid time off to file complaints
The full council will consider the proposed law — which has been in the works since April — Oct. 11.
If it is approved, hotels must have a panic-button system in place by July 2018, according to the measure.
Violations of the ordinance could mean fines of $250 to $500, according to the proposal.
Hotels that the Chicago Commission on Human Rights determine have violated the ordinance twice in one year could have their licenses suspended or revoked by the office of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, according to the proposal.
Fifty-eight percent of hotel workers surveyed last fall by Unite Here Local 1 reported having been sexually harassed by a guest. Forty-nine percent of hotel housekeepers reported that guests had exposed themselves, flashed them or answered the door nude.
Illinois Hotel and Lodging Association CEO Marc Gordon said after the committee meeting that he did not think the law — which he said will cost a "good deal of money" to comply with — was necessary. However, Gordon said hotel owners want to make employees "feel more secure."
