(a) Definitions. As used in this section:
"Anti-sexual harassment policy" means the written policy required under subsection (e)(2) of this section.
"Business day" means those days in which municipal offices are open for conducting City business. A "business day" does not include Saturday, Sunday or the holidays listed in Section 2-152-090.
"Dwelling unit" has the meaning ascribed to that term in Section 17-17-0248.
"Employee(s)" means any natural person who works full time or part time at a hotel for or under the direction of the licensee or any subcontractor of the licensee for wages or salary or remuneration of any type under a contract or subcontract of employment, whether express or implied.
"Guest" means any invitee to a hotel, including registered guests, persons occupying guest rooms with registered guests, visitors invited to guest rooms by a registered guest or other occupant of a guest room, persons patronizing food or beverage facilities provided by the hotel, or any other person whose presence at the hotel is permitted by the licensee. The term "guest" does not include employees.
"Guest room" means any room made available by a hotel for overnight occupancy by guests.
"Hotel" means any building or structure kept, used, maintained as, advertised or held out to the public to be an inn, hotel, motel, family hotel, apartment hotel, lodging house, dormitory or other place, where sleeping or rooming accommodations are furnished, used or maintained for hire or rent for the accommodation of guests, lodgers or roomers, and in which seven or more sleeping rooms, in any combination on one or more floors of such building or structure, are not intermingled on any given floor with dwelling units owned by persons other than the hotel. The term "hotel" shall not include "single-room occupancy buildings", "bed-and-breakfast establishments", "vacation rentals" or "shared housing units" licensed or registered, or required to be licensed or registered, by the city.
"Laid-off employee" means an employee: (1) who had a length of service with a licensee of six months or more in the twelve months preceding their most recent separation from active service; (2) who performed, in a particular workweek, at least two hours of work within the city for that licensee; and (3) whose most recent separation from active service from that licensee occurred on or after January 31, 2020, as a result of a nondisciplinary reason.
"Licensee" has the meaning ascribed to that term in Section 4-4-005.
"Panic button" or "notification device" means a portable emergency contact device that is designed so that an employee can quickly and easily activate such button or device to effectively summon to the employee's location prompt assistance by a hotel security officer, manager or other appropriate hotel staff member designated by the licensee.
"Platform" has the meaning ascribed to that term in Section 4-13-100.
"Restroom" means any room equipped with toilets.
"Sexual harassment" means any (i) unwelcome sexual advances or unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature; or (ii) request for sexual favors when (1) submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual's employment, or (2) submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for any employment decision affecting the individual, or (3) such conduct has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with an individual's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment; or (iii) sexual misconduct, which means any behavior of a sexual nature which also involves coercion, abuse of authority, or misuse of an individual's employment position.
(b) Application – Additional information required. In addition to the requirements set forth in Section 4-4-050, an application for, and, if requested, renewal of, a regulated business license to engage in the business of hotel shall be accompanied by the following information:
(1) A statement as to whether, within ten years prior to the date of application or renewal, the applicant or any controlling person has ever been convicted, in custody, under parole or under any other non-custodial supervision resulting from a conviction in a court of any jurisdiction for the commission of any forcible felony, as defined in Section 2-8 of the Criminal Code of 1961, codified at 720 ILCS 5/1-1.
(2) A statement verifying the functional presence of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) as defined in 410 ILCS 4/10, et seq. (The Automated External Defibrillator Act) in each Hotel as required under Chapter 7-52 of the Municipal Code of Chicago entitled the Hotel AED Ordinance.
It is a condition of the license that all information in the application be kept current. Any change in required information shall be reported to the department in accordance with Section 4-4-050(b).
(c) License issuance and renewal – Prohibited when. No regulated business license to engage in the business of hotel shall be issued to any applicant or licensee, as applicable, who, within ten years of the date of application or renewal, has ever been convicted, in custody, under parole or under any other non-custodial supervision resulting from a conviction in a court of any jurisdiction for the commission of any forcible felony, as defined in Section 2-8 of the Criminal Code of 1961, codified at 720 ILCS 5/1-1, unless, upon request of such person, the Commissioner has determined that such person has been substantially rehabilitated to warrant the public trust. The burden of proof of substantial rehabilitation shall be on the person seeking such rehabilitation.
(d) Departmental duties.
(1) The Department of Buildings shall inspect each licensed hotel at least twice every year. Such inspection shall verify that the premises comply in all respects with the ventilation, sanitary, fire prevention and building provisions of this Code and the laws of the State of Illinois pertaining to such establishments. If, within the 12-month period prior to the date of any such bi-annual inspection, the hotel was inspected by the Department of Buildings in connection with a periodic inspection, code compliance inspection or certificate of occupancy, such inspection shall be deemed to meet the inspection requirement set forth herein. The Department of Health, Fire Department and Department of Buildings are authorized to conduct such additional inspections as they deem necessary to maintain health and safety.
(2) The Superintendent of Police shall, when making a report relative to criminal activity on or immediately adjacent to the licensed establishment (1) conduct an investigation to determine whether a public nuisance within the meaning of subsection (f)(2) of this section occurred at the establishment or on immediately adjacent property; and (2) prepare a written investigative report summarizing the findings of such investigation and recommending appropriate legal and administrative action which may be taken in response to such public nuisance, including, but not limited to, license suspension or revocation; and (3) transmit the investigative report, within 48 hours of the incident identified in the police report, to the Commissioner of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection and Corporation Counsel for further action as warranted. Upon request by any alderman or City Council committee, the Corporation Counsel shall make the report submitted pursuant to this subsection available to such alderman or city Council Committee for review.
(3) Investigations to enforce the provisions of subsection (e) of this section may be conducted, as appropriate, by the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection or Chicago Commission on Human Relations ("CCHR"). Investigations to enforce subsection (f)(3) of this section shall be conducted by CCHR.
(e) Legal duties. Each licensee engaged in the business of hotel shall have a duty to:
(1) equip employees who are assigned to clean or to inventory, inspect or restock supplies in a guest room or restroom, under circumstances where no other employee is present in such room, with a panic button or notification device. The employee may use the panic button or notification device to summon help if the employee reasonably believes that an ongoing crime, sexual harassment, sexual assault or other emergency is occurring in the employee’s presence. Panic buttons and notification devices shall be provided by the licensee at no cost to the employee;
Editor’s note – Pursuant to Coun. J. 10-11-17, p. 57510, § 4, subsection (e)(1) shall take full force and effect on July 1, 2018.
(2) develop, maintain and comply with a written anti-sexual harassment policy to protect employees against sexual assault and sexual harassment by guests. Such policy shall: (a) encourage employees ("complaining employee") to immediately report to the licensee instances of alleged sexual assault and sexual harassment by guests ("offending guest"); (b) describe the procedures that the complaining employee and licensee shall follow in such cases; (c) instruct the complaining employee to cease work and to leave the immediate area where danger is perceived until hotel security personnel or members of the Police Department arrive to provide assistance; (d) offer temporary work assignments to the complaining employee during the duration of the offending guest's stay at the hotel, which may include assigning the employee to work on a different floor or at a different station or work area away from the offending guest; (e) provide the complaining employee with necessary paid time off to: (i) sign a complaint with the Police Department against the offending guest, and (ii) testify as a witness at any legal proceeding that may ensue as a result of such complaint, if the complaining employee is still in the licensee's employ at the time such legal proceeding occurs; (f) inform the employee that the Illinois Human Rights Act, Chicago Human Rights Ordinance and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 provide additional protections against sexual harassment in the workplace; and (g) inform the employee that subsection (f)(3) of this section makes it illegal for an employer to retaliate against any employee who reasonably uses a panic button or notification device, or in good faith avails himself or herself of the requirements set forth in subsection (e)(2)(c), (e)(2)(d), (e)(2)(e) of this subsection, or discloses, reports or testifies about any violation of this section or rules promulgated thereunder. Nothing in this subsection (e)(2) shall be construed to relieve the licensee from compliance with Section 4-4-306; and
(3) provide all employees with a current copy in English, Spanish, and Polish of the hotel's anti-sexual harassment policy required by subsection (e)(2), and post such policy in English, Spanish, and Polish in conspicuous places in areas of the hotel, such as supply rooms or employee lunch rooms, where employees can reasonably be expected to see it. This policy shall be in addition to the written policy document prohibiting sexual harassment required by Section 6-10-040.
(4) if the hotel is listed on any platform:
(i) not to list, or permit any person to list, the hotel or any guest room on such platform unless the listing includes the hotel's license number;
(ii) not to rent, or permit any person to rent, and not to book for future rental, or allow any person to book for future rental, the hotel or any guest room unless the hotel is properly licensed by the department;
(5) comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations regarding the collection and payment of taxes, including but not limited to the Chicago Hotel Accommodation Tax Ordinance, Chapter 3-24 of this Code (where applicable).
(6) follow the following procedures when engaging in hiring after laying off employees:
(A) A licensee shall offer its Laid-Off Employees all job positions for which the Laid-Off Employees are qualified prior to offering those job positions to others.
(i) The offer shall be in writing by registered mail to the Laid-Off Employee's last known physical address, and by email and text message to the extent the licensee possesses such information.
(ii) A Laid-Off Employee is Qualified for a position if the Laid-Off Employee: (I) held the same or similar position at the hotel at the time of the Laid-Off Employee's most recent separation from active service with the licensee: or (II) is within the same division or department of the hotel and can meet the job requirements for the position with the same training that would be provided to a new employee hired into that position.
(iii) Job positions shall be offered to Laid-Off Employees in an order of preference that corresponds to subsection (e)(6)(A)(ii) above, that is with preference to Laid-Off Employees who are Qualified under (I) first, and then (II). Where more than one Laid-Off Employee is entitled to preference for a position, the licensee shall offer the position to the Laid-Off Employee with the greatest length of service to the Hotel.
(iv) A Laid-Off Employee who is offered a position pursuant to this section shall be given no less than five business days from the date of receipt of the offer in which to accept or decline the offer. A licensee may make simultaneous, conditional offers of employment to Laid-Off Employees, with final offer of employment conditioned on application of the priority system set forth in subsection (e)(6)(A)(ii) above.
(B) A licensee that declines to offer a Laid-Off Employee a job position because of the Laid-Off Employee's lack of qualifications and instead hires someone other than a Laid-Off Employee shall provide the Laid-Off Employee a written notice within thirty days identifying all reasons for such decision.
\ (C) The requirements of this subsection (e)(6) also apply when:
(i) the licensee changed after the separation from employment of a Laid-Off Employee, but the hotel is conducting the same or similar operations as before January 31, 2020;
(ii) the form of organization of the licensee changed after January 31, 2020;
(iii) the licensee relocates the operations at which a Laid-Off Employee was employed before January 31, 2020, to a different location within the City; or
(iv) any combination of the circumstances described in parts (i) through (iii).
(D) It shall be unlawful for any licensee to discriminate in any manner or take any adverse action against any employee in retaliation for exercising any right under this subsection (e)(6), including, but not limited to, seeking to enforce rights under this subsection (e)(6), participating in proceedings related to this subsection (e)(6), opposing any practice proscribed by this chapter, disclosing, reporting, or testifying about any violation, or good faith belief of a violation, of this chapter or rules promulgated thereunder.
(E) Nothing in this subsection (e)(6) shall be deemed to interfere with, impede, or in any way diminish the right of employees to bargain collectively with licensees through representatives of their own choosing in order to establish employment arrangements in excess of the applicable minimum standards of this subsection (e)(6). The requirements of this subsection (e)(6) may be waived in a bona fide collective bargaining agreement, but only if the waiver is set forth explicitly in such agreement in clear and unambiguous terms.
(f) Prohibited acts. It shall be unlawful for any licensee engaged in the business of hotel to:
(1) (i) rent any sleeping room by the hour or for any period of fewer than ten consecutive hours; or (ii) rent any sleeping room more than once within any consecutive ten hour period measured from the commencement of one rental to the commencement of the next; or (iii) advertise an hourly rate or any other rate for a sleeping room based on a rental period of fewer than ten consecutive hours. Provided, however, that clauses (i) and (ii) shall not apply to any hotel that is located within the central area as defined in Section 10-32-220(1) of this Code, or within three miles of property used for airport purposes at the Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Midway Airport or within 1.5 miles of the McCormick Place complex. Any person who violates any requirement of this subsection shall be subject to a fine of not less than $500.00 nor more than $1,000.00 for each offense. Each day that a violation continues shall constitute a separate and distinct offense.
(2) knowingly permit prostitution, pimping, gambling or illegal possession or delivery of, or trafficking in, controlled substances or other drugs, including cannabis, to occur on or immediately adjacent to the licensed establishment; or to fail to discover such illegal acts on or immediately adjacent to the licensed establishment under circumstances in which a reasonable person, exercising ordinary care and diligence, would infer that such activity is taking place; or to fail to report to the police in a timely manner any criminal activity occurring on or immediately adjacent to the licensed establishment, if such criminal activity is observed by or reported to the licensee. Provided, however, that it shall be an affirmative defense to any prosecution under this subsection if the licensee immediately notified the police of the public nuisance occurring on or immediately adjacent to the licensed establishment. For purposes of this subsection, the term "licensee" also includes employees and agents of the licensee. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit or regulate any conduct authorized by the Illinois Gambling Act, or the Sports Wagering Act, each as in effect on May 4, 2022.
(3) retaliate against any employee for: (i) reasonably using a panic button or notification device, or (ii) availing himself or herself of the requirements set forth in subsection (e)(2)(c), (e)(2)(d) or (e)(2)(e) of this section, or (iii) disclosing, reporting, or testifying about any violation of this section or any rule promulgated thereunder. Any complaint alleging a violation of this subsection (f)(3) shall be filed by the aggrieved party with the Chicago Commission on Human Relations ("CCHR") no later than 300 days after the occurrence of the alleged violation and in accordance with rules duly promulgated by the Commissioner of CCHR. Two or more adjudged violations of this subsection (f)(3) within any 12-month period may result in license suspension or revocation in accordance with Section 4-4-280. Provided, however, that: (A) the subject matter of any such disciplinary hearing or proceeding under Section 4-4-280 shall be limited to the issue of whether the required number of adjudged violations of this subsection (f)(3) occurred within any 12-month period; (B) the licensee shall not be permitted at such disciplinary hearing or proceeding to challenge the adjudged violations themselves, nor any underlying facts asserted or determined therein; and (C) no fines shall be imposed on the licensee as a result of such disciplinary hearing or proceeding under Section 4-4-280.
(g) Penalties.
(1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (f)(3)(C) of this section, and in addition to any other penalty provided by law, any person who violates this section or any rule promulgated thereunder shall be subject to a fine of not less than $250.00 nor more than $500.00 for each offense. Each day that a violation continues shall constitute a separate and distinct offense.
(2) If a regulated business license to engage in the business of hotel is revoked for cause, no license shall be granted to any person for the operation of a hotel at the premises described in the revocation order for a period of one year from the date of revocation. Provided, however, that this subsection shall not apply to any hotel located within the City's Central Business District, as defined in Section 9-4-010 of this Code; or within three miles of property used for airport purposes at the Chicago O'Hare International Airport; or within the McCormick Place complex.
(3) For violations of subsection (e)(6) of this section:
(A) Prior to initiating a civil action, a Laid-Off Employee who believes that the licensee is in violation of subsection (e)(6) must provide the licensee with written notice of, and an opportunity to correct, that alleged violation. The Laid-Off Employee may provide such notice directly to the licensee. The licensee shall have fifteen days from the issuance of a written notice to correct any violation.
(B) If the licensee has not corrected an alleged violation within the above-referenced fifteen-day period, the Laid-Off Employee may initiate a civil action to enforce this subsection. A Laid-Off Employee shall be entitled to all remedies available under the law or in equity appropriate to remedy such violation. If the complainant prevails in a legal action against the licensee, the court may award reasonable attorney's fees, expert witness fees, and costs as part of the judgment.
(C) If it is established that a Laid-Off Employee exercised rights under subsection (e)(6), and the licensee thereafter refused to employ, terminated, demoted, or otherwise took adverse action against the employee, and that action took place within sixty days after such exercise, then a rebuttable presumption shall arise that the licensee's action was taken violation of subsection (e)(6). The licensee must prove that the reason for the adverse action was a legitimate business reason. The alleging party may rebut the licensee's asserted legitimate business reason by showing that it was, in fact, a pretext.
(h) Rules. The Commissioner shall have the authority to promulgate rules necessary or appropriate to implement this section.
(i) Subsection (e)(6) of this section shall self-repeal without further action of the City Council on December 31, 2023.
(Added Coun. J. 5-9-12, p. 27485, § 16; Amend Coun. J. 6-6-12, p. 28356, § 1B; Amend Coun. J. 11-8-12, p. 38872, § 65; Amend Coun. J. 6-22-16, p. 27712, § 5; Amend Coun. J. 2-22-17, p. 43916, Art. VIII, § 5; Amend Coun. J. 10-11-17, p. 55898, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 10-11-17, p. 57510, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 6-27-18, p. 80805, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 12-12-18, p. 93551, § 3; Amend Coun. J. 9-9-20, p. 20269, § 2; Amend Coun. J. 3-24-21, p. 28843, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 6-25-21, p. 31925, Art. V, § 3; Amend Coun. J. 6-25-21, p. 32150, § 2; Amend Coun. J. 4-27-22, p. 46382, § 18; Amend Coun. J. 5-25-22, p. 48413, § 3; Amend Coun. J. 4-19-23, p. 62651, § 6)