On January 18, 2018, California’s Department of Industrial Relations Occupational Safety & Health Standards Board, approved a proposed regulation requiring hotel employers to maintain “an effective, written, musculoskeletal injury prevention program (MIPP) that addresses hazards specific to housekeeping.” The regulation requires the employer to assess the risks, implement a program to address them in cooperation with any housekeepers’ union representative (the regulation was based in large part on a proposal set forth by UNITE HERE Local 11), train the housekeepers with respect to the MIPP, and ensure the housekeepers’ implementation of the MIPP. Employers are also required to keep records of the evaluation giving rise to the employer’s program, and the steps taken to implement it.

The approved standard has been filed with California’s Office of Administrative Law to ensure compliance with the Administrative Procedures Act. The standard goes into effect on July 1, 2018.

What does this mean for you? Stokes Wagner recently prepared a memorandum outlining the approved requirements. Please contact us with any further questions.

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