Limiting Off-Duty Access To The Hotel

Many hospitality employers are surprised to learn that employees have a right under federal labor law to access the exterior, nonworking areas of the hotel property in their off-duty hours for union or other protected concerted activities. Hospitality employers are also surprised to learn that handbook rules prohibiting any off-duty employee access or conditioning off-duty employee access on manager approval are unlawful.

In fact, the legality of hotel policies restricting off-duty employee access is a complicated area of federal labor law. But you do have some options when it comes to implementing lawful rules restricting off-duty employee access. Keep in mind that any rules on off-duty access must be clearly stated in the employee handbook and take into account the nuanced requirements of federal labor law.