Working conditions in London’s high-class hotels

According to several articles and reports, staff of high-class hotels throughout London face sexual harassment, bullying, and employment abuses. Cleaning staff have to follow tight schedules which are almost impossible to meet without working overtime. Overtime is only inadequately compensated.  

In 2018, almost 8000 Marriott hotel employees were striking in eight US cities to demand better wages and workplace safety with the slogan “One job should be enough”. In Hawaii, the strike lasted 52 days and ended in an agreement and improved working conditions for staff (see video). 

Exploitation of backpacker labour in beds for wages deals in New Zealand

A Labour Inspectorate investigation into illegal use of volunteer labour has found the practice is rife in the accommodation sector in New Zealand. Overseas workers were less likely to be aware of their rights and entitlements to a minimum wage and holiday pay, and it was possible the numbers of young travellers being exploited ran into the thousands.

Skye tourism workers complain of low pay and poor working conditions

Hotel workers on Skye have complained of being underpaid, denied holidays and given substandard accommodation as the island experiences a lucrative tourism boom. The island’s hotels and B&Bs are booked solidly throughout the summer, while the number of AirBnB properties registered on Skye has increased tenfold in three years, from 54 in 2015 to more than 550 in 2018.

Castell Project examines diversity in hospitality leadership

The report called “Black Representation in Hospitality Leadership 2020” published by the nonprofit Castell Project, an organization dedicated to accelerating the careers of women professionals in the hospitality industry, examines the role of Black leaders across the sector. The research of the report found that of the 630 hotel company websites reviewed, 84% do not show any Black executives on their websites, while only 16% showed a Black employee at the director level or above. Black executives represent 1.5% of hospitality industry executives at the director level or above on company websites, which is 12.5 times below their proportionate share of hospitality industry employment. Moreover, the report highlights that black women’s representation in leadership is heavily weighted toward human resources, which employs 67% of Black women directors. Black male leaders are most found in operations and, to a lesser extent, in accounting/finance, notably at the director and VP levels. Moreover, Castell Project's recent report "Black Representation in Hospitality Leadership 2021” reveals that black hospitality employees disproportionately lost jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

NAACP report: scant progress toward exec parity at hotels

The report analyzes the workplace diversity of Hilton, Hyatt Hotels Corp., Marriott International and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts and concludes little progress has been made since the organization's 2005 evaluation. The report provided in-depth analysis for each of the four companies and assigned grades for board and workforce diversity; transitions such as new hires, promotions and voluntary and involuntary turnover; and supplier diversity. Despite substantial progess for some areas, racial and ethnic minorities remain overrepresented in lower-level roles and underrepresented in higher-wage positions. Based on its findings, the NAACP recommended the hospitality industry as a whole focus on four areas: ownership, boards of directors, top management and supplier diversity.  

Mallorca hotel cleaners fight exploitation

Without the women who clean hotel rooms every day, Mallorca's tourism industry would come to a halt. The so-called Kellys are fighting for better working conditions. Their working conditions have attracted considerable attention in Spain lately. After all, the women put in hard work that often translates into health problems just to feed their families and keep the one of Spain's biggest economic sectors, the tourist trade, ticking along. Since organizing in 2016, the "Kellys" have already pushed through a spate of improvements: Many physical ailments common among housekeepers are now recognized as occupational illnesses.

In Greece, holidaymakers are back but workers are in short supply

After the tough years of coronavirus, tourists are coming back but jobs in hotels and bars are not being filled. Greece’s tourism industry accounts for more than a fifth of its entire economic output and provides employment for about a quarter of the workforce, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council. But the owners of hotels, bars and restaurants are finding it hard to recruit enough workers to cope with demand. Two years of the pandemic and lockdowns meant many foreigners working in the Greek tourism sector left the country and never returned. Greeks have also looked for jobs in other sectors as seasonal contracts became even shorter, aggravating long-existing grievances about working hours and low payments. Many have left for other countries that offer better wages, including Cyprus and Spain. Additionally, many workers stress that hotel work is no longer worth it. Low salaries, long hours, and overall bad working conditions force workers to look for work in other sectors.  

Exploitative Recruitment Risk to Migrant Workers in Qatar's World Cup Hotels

Ahead of the Qatar World Cup 2022 kick-off in November, with its accompanying influx of an estimated one million visitors, recruitment is ramping up astonishing speed. So too are the implications of this hiring surge for the plight of migrant workers staffing Qatar’s hotels. Research has shown the payment of recruitment fees by migrant workers to be one of the region’s single largest drivers of abuse. Where companies do not recognise their responsibility to cover these costs, workers lack some of the most basic protections against exploitation and are often left struggling financially.