Hospitality Law: A Manager's Guide to Legal Issues in the Hospitality Industry

Hospitality Law: Managing Legal Issues in the Hospitality Industry, Fifth Edition takes an applied approach to the study of hospitality law with its touchstone of compliance and prevention. The book is highly pedagogical and includes many interactive exercises and real world cases that help students focus on the practical application of hospitality laws and model their decision process to avoid liability. As a result, this book does look different than others on the market as the legal information contained is carefully selected to specifically correlate with helping students understand how to do the right thing, i.e., it is not a comprehensive book on the laws.

Barth immediately helps readers learn about the legalities of situations and work through exercises – both individually and in groups -- to effectively apply them to hospitality management situations. Many instructors teach their course from a very applied perspective, which aligns with Barth’s approach.

PREFACE ix

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xiii

1 Prevention Philosophy 1

1.1 The Future Hospitality Manager And The Legal Environment 1

1.2 The Hospitality Manager and Legal Management 2

Legally Managing at Work: Applying the STEM Process in Hospitality Management  5

1.3 Ethics and the Law 6

International Snapshot: Mitigating Risks Associated with Legal and Ethical Compliance in International Business Transactions 12

What Would You Do? 13

What Did You Learn in This Chapter? 13

2 Government Agencies That Impact the Hospitality Industry 15

2.1 Federal Regulatory and Administrative Agencies 15

2.2 State Regulatory and Administrative Agencies 29

2.3 Local Regulatory and Administrative Agencies 33

2.4 Regulatory Interaction and Oversight Impacting Travel and Tourism 35

2.5 Managing Conflicting Regulations 40

Legally Managing at Work: Recommended Steps for Responding to Inquiries and Complaints by Government Agencies 40

2.6 Responding to an Inquiry 41

2.7 Monitoring Regulatory Change 42

International Snapshot: Immigration 42

What Would You Do? 43

What Did You Learn in This Chapter 44

3 Hospitality Business Structures 45

3.1 The Importance of Business Structure 45

3.2 Common Hospitality Organizational Structures 46

3.3 Common Hospitality Operating Structures 51

3.4 The Agency Relationship 55

International Snapshot: A Comparative Overview of Business Entities in the Hotel Industry 58

What Would You Do? 58

What Did You Learn in This Chapter? 58

4 Contract Basics 59

4.1 Introduction to Contracts 59

4.2 Components of an Enforceable Contract 61

4.3 The Uniform Commercial Code 64

4.4 Preventative Legal Management and Contracts 65

Legally Managing at Work: Eight Steps to Follow When Entering into Contracts 67

Legally Managing at Work: Reducing No-Show Reservations 70

International Snapshot: International Contracts 71

What Would You Do? 72

What Did You Learn In This Chapter? 72

5 Significant Hospitality Contracts 73

5.1 Specific Contract Clauses 73

5.2 Franchise Contracts 80

5.3 Management Contracts 84

5.4 Conference Services Contracts 87

International Snapshot: A Comparison of Franchise Disclosure Requirements under U.S. Law and International Law 93

What Would You Do? 94

What Did You Learn In This Chapter? 94

6 Legally Managing Property 95

6.1 Introduction to Property 95

6.2 Purchasing Property 97

6.3 Financing the Purchase of Property 102

6.4 Leasing Property 105

Legally Managing at Work: Legal Considerations of Buying versus Leasing 109

6.5 Respecting Intellectual Property Rights 110

International Snapshot: U.S. Hotel Companies’ Options for Seeking Trademark Protection Abroad 114

What Would You Do? 115

What Did You Learn in This Chapter? 115

7 Legally Selecting Employees 117

7.1 Employee Selection 117

7.2 Discrimination in the Selection Process 126

Legally Managing at Work: Accommodating Disabled Employees 128

7.3 Verification of Eligibility to Work 129

7.4 The Employment Relationship 134

International Snapshot: Canadian Employment Laws 137

What Would You Do? 138

What Did You Learn in This Chapter? 138

8 Legally Managing Employees 139

8.1 Employment Relationships 139

8.2 Workplace Discrimination and Sexual Harassment 141

8.3 Family and Medical Leave Act 148

8.4 Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act 149

8.5 Compensation 149

Legally Managing at Work: Calculating Overtime Pay for Tipped Employees 154

8.6 The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 156

8.7 Managing Employee Performance 157

Legally Managing at Work: Guidelines for Conducting Defensible Employee Terminations 160

8.8 Unemployment Claims 161

8.9 Employment Records and Retention 164

8.10 Employment Posting 166

8.11 Workplace Surveillance 166

International Snapshot: Managing Employees Abroad 168

What Would You Do? 169

What Did You Learn in This Chapter? 169

9 Your Responsibilities as a Hospitality Operator 171

9.1 Duties and Obligations of a Hospitality Operator 171

9.2 Theories of Liability 172

9.3 Legal Damages 176

9.4 Anatomy of a Personal Injury Lawsuit 176

Legally Managing at Work: The Manager’s Role in Litigation 180

9.5 Responding to an Incident 180

Legally Managing at Work: Responding to an Accident 181

International Snapshot: Negligence 184

What Would You Do? 184

What Did You Learn in This Chapter? 185

10 Your Responsibilities as a Hospitality Operator to Guests 187

10.1 Accommodating Guests 187

10.2 Guest Privacy 191

Legally Managing at Work: Law Enforcement and Guest Privacy 192

10.3 Facility Maintenance 193

Legally Managing at Work: Five Steps to Facility Evaluation 196

10.4 Responsibilities to Nonguests 197

10.5 Removal of Guests 198

Legally Managing at Work: Responding to Guest Health Emergencies 200

International Snapshot: Should Foreign Governments Adopt Provisions from the USA PATRIOT Act to Combat Terrorist Acts against the Hospitality Industry? 200

What Would You Do? 201

What Did You Learn in This Chapter? 201

11 Your Responsibilities for Guests’ Property 203

11.1 Liability For Guests’ Property 203

11.2 Bailments 205

11.3 Property with Unknown Ownership 209

Legally Managing at Work: Disposing of Found Property 211

International Snapshot: Limited Liability of Innkeepers in Canada 211

What Would You Do? 212

What Did You Learn in This Chapter? 212

12 Your Responsibilities When Serving Food and Beverages 213

12.1 Serving Food 213

Legally Managing at Work: Steps to Take When a Guest Complains of Foodborne Illness 215

12.2 Truth-in-Menu Laws 216

12.3 Serving Alcohol 221

International Snapshot: Understanding Barriers to Entry and Regulatory Requirements for Foreign Producers of Alcohol Seeking to Import to the United States 228

What Did You Learn in This Chapter? 229

13 Legal Characteristics of Travel and Tourism 231

13.1 Travel 231

13.2 Travel Agents and Tour Operators 235

13.3 Transportation and Common Carriers 240

13.4 Tourism 246

13.5 Online Travel Sales 251

Legally Managing at Work: Internet Advertising Checklist 255

International Snapshot: Government Support of Tourism 255

What Would You Do? 256

What Did You Learn in This Chapter? 257

14 Safety and Security Issues 259

14.1 The Importance of a Protected Environment 259

14.2 Safety and Security Programs: Four-Step Safety and Security Management Method 262

Legally Managing at Work: Establishing an Effective Guestroom Lock Policy 266

14.3 Crimes against Hospitality Businesses 268

Legally Managing at Work: Procedures to Reduce the Incidence of Skipping 269

Legally Managing at Work: Guidelines for Handling Credit Cards 270

Legally Managing at Work: Personal Check Verification 271

14.4 Human Trafficking 273

14.5 Crisis Management Programs 274

Legally Managing at Work: The Manager’s Responsibilities in a Crisis 277

Legally Managing at Work: Guest Relations in a Crisis Situation 278

Legally Managing at Work: Guidelines for Dealing with the Media during a Crisis 279

International Snapshot: Legal Claims and Recovery for Injury under Mexican Law 282

What Would You Do? 282

What Did You Learn in This Chapter? 282

15 Managing Insurance 283

15.1 Introduction to Insurance 283

15.2 Types of Coverage 285

15.3 Selecting an Insurance Carrier 289

15.4 Selecting the Insurance Policy 289

15.5 Policy Analysis 290

International Snapshot: Hotels Operating Internationally Need to Think Globally 292

What Would You Do? 293

What Did You Learn in This Chapter? 294

GLOSSARY 295

INDEX 301

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