SB182 SD1

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that tourism is a major contributor to the State's economy. Travelers come from around the globe to experience Hawaii's natural beauty, culture, and diversity.

The legislature further finds that travelers staying at hotels are vulnerable to disruptions to accommodation services. Visitors are often unfamiliar with local conditions and lack alternative accommodations during their stay. The legislature also finds that hotel guests are frequently unaware of pest infestations; construction work; noisy demonstrations; work stoppages, strikes, or lockouts; or the unavailability of advertised amenities at the hotel when they make reservations. Guests may then experience difficulty canceling their reservations after discovering the disruptions upon arrival. Ensuring that hotel guests are notified of any service disruption, or the possibility of a service disruption, and are permitted to terminate reservations without financial consequences is essential to protect travelers from the effects of service disruptions and to ensure the continued vitality of the State's tourism and hotel sector.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to:

(1) Require hotelkeepers to provide adequate notice of strikes and lockouts to guests and third-party vendors under certain conditions; and

(2) Allow for recovery of damages by injured parties.

SECTION 2. Chapter 486K, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§486K- Strikes and lockouts; notice to third-party vendors and guests required; damages recoverable. (a) Within twenty-four hours of:

(1) Receiving notice of a strike scheduled to occur for at least one calendar day at or near the hotel, or the occurrence of a strike for at least one calendar day at or near the hotel, whichever is earlier; or

(2) Notifying a labor organization of a lockout scheduled to occur for at least one calendar day at the hotel or the occurrence of a lockout for at least one calendar day at the hotel, whichever is earlier,

the hotelkeeper shall provide, in all modifiable mediums where the hotel advertises or solicits customers, or through which customers can book or reserve rooms or hotel services, notification of the strike or lockout to each third-party vendor and guest who is seeking or has entered into a reservation, booking, or agreement with the keeper or a third-party vendor for the use or occupancy of a room or hotel service. The keeper shall provide notice before accepting or entering into any new reservation, booking, or agreement for the use of a room or hotel service; provided that if the circumstances of the strike or lockout make timely notification impracticable, the keeper shall provide notice as soon as practicable.

(b) The notification shall describe:

(1) The nature of the strike or lockout;

(2) The extent of the strike's or lockout's effect on reservations, bookings, or agreements to use the room or hotel services; and

(3) The right of a guest to cancel or terminate the reservation, booking, or agreement for the use of the room or hotel services with a refund, if applicable, and without the imposition of any fee, penalty, or other charge pursuant to subsections (c) and (d).

If the notification is included in a communication containing other information, the notification shall be in a significantly larger font and different color than the remainder of the communication.

(c) A keeper shall not impose any fee, penalty, or other charge or retain any deposit of a guest who cancels a reservation, booking, or agreement with the keeper for the future use of a room or hotel service if a strike or lockout is likely to exist during the period of the reservation, booking, or agreement for the use of a room or hotel service.

(d) At the onset of a strike or lockout, the keeper shall immediately and clearly notify all guests and hotel service users of the strike or lockout pursuant to subsections (a) and (b). A guest may terminate any remaining period of a reservation, booking, or agreement for the use of a room or hotel service and the keeper shall not impose any fee, penalty, or other charge for the termination or retain any deposit related to any unused portion of the period of the reservation, booking, or agreement following the onset of the strike or lockout.

(e) Any keeper that violates or causes another person to violate this section shall forfeit to the injured party three times the amount of the sum charged in excess of what the keeper is entitled to.

(f) For purposes of this section:

"Hotel service" means work performed in connection with the operation of a hotel, including but not limited to the letting of guest rooms or meeting rooms, or the provision of food or beverage services, banquet services, or spa services.

"Lockout" means the refusal of an employer to furnish work to employees as a result of a labor dispute between the employer and its employee.

"Strike" means an employee's refusal, in concerted action with others, to report for duty, or the employee's wilful absence from the employee's position, or the employee's stoppage of work, or the employee's abstinence in whole or in part from the full, faithful, and proper performance of the duties of employment, for the purpose of inducing, influencing, or coercing a change in the conditions, compensation, rights, privileges, or obligations of employment; and except in the case of absences authorized by employers, includes the refusal, absence, stoppage, or abstinence by any employee out of sympathy or support for any other employee who is on strike or because of the presence of any picket line maintained by any other employee; provided that, nothing in this definition shall limit or impair the right of any employee to express or communicate a complaint or opinion on any matter related to the conditions of employment.

"Third-party vendor" means a vendor with which a hotelkeeper has an arrangement for third-party room reservations or any other entity that has reserved or entered into an agreement or booking for the use or occupancy of one or more rooms in a hotel in furtherance of the business of reselling the rooms to guests."

SECTION 3. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.

SECTION 4. This Act shall not be applied so as to impair any contract existing as of the effective date of this Act in a manner violative of either the Hawaii State Constitution or article I, section 10, of the United States Constitution.

SECTION 5. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050.

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	182
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII