ADMINISTRATIVE FINES AND PENALTIES PAYABLE TO THE CITY.
Los Angeles Municipal Code § 186.09
in effectSEC. 186.09. ADMINISTRATIVE FINES AND PENALTIES PAYABLE TO THE CITY.
(Title and Section Amended by Ord. No. 188,610, Eff. 9/8/25.)
A. Penalties. A Hotel Employer who violates this article, or any portion thereof, shall be liable to the City for a penalty of up to $50 per day that wages, health benefit payments, compensated time off, or Service Charges are unlawfully withheld from a Hotel Worker. A violation for unlawfully withholding wages, health benefit payments, compensated time off, or Service Charges shall be deemed to continue from the date immediately following the date that the wages were due and payable as provided in Part 1 (commencing with Section 200) of Division 2 of the California Labor Code, to the date immediately preceding the date the wages are paid in full.
B. Administrative Fines. An administrative fine payable to the City may be assessed for a violation of any provision of this article as specified below. The administrative fine may be assessed by means of a Notice of Correction, as provided in Section 188.06, issued to the Hotel Employer by the Division.
VIOLATION AND FINE AMOUNT
Failure to post notice of the wage rates, health benefits, time off benefits, and Service Charge requirements under this article – Municipal Code Section 188.03 A. | Up to $500
Failure to allow access to payroll records – Municipal Code Section 188.03 B. | Up to $500
Failure to allow access to records required by this article – Municipal Code Section 186.04 A. or 188.03 C. | Up to $500
Failure to maintain payroll records or to retain payroll records for four years – Municipal Code Section 188.03 B. | Up to $500
Failure to allow access for inspection of records or to interview employees – Municipal Code Section 188.03 B. or 188.03 C. | Up to $500
Retaliation for exercising rights under this article – Municipal Code Section 186.06. | Up to $1,000
Failure to provide employer’s name, address, and telephone number in writing – Municipal Code Section 188.03 A. or 188.05 D. | Up to $500
Failure to cooperate with the Division’s investigation – Municipal Code Section 188.03 C. or 188.05 D. | Up to $500
Failure to submit documents or information to the Division within 30 days of the request – Municipal Code Section 188.03 B. or 188.05 D. | Up to $500
Failure to post Notice of Correction to employees – Municipal Code Section 188.06 D. | Up to $500
C. Calculation of Administrative Fines. Each and every day that a violation exists constitutes a separate and distinct violation. Any subsequent violation of the same provision by the same Hotel Employer within three years of a prior Notice of Correction, as defined in Section 188.06, may result in a 50 percent increase in the maximum administrative fine allowed.
D. Payments to the City; Due Date; Late Payment Penalty. Administrative fines and City penalties shall be payable to the City of Los Angeles and due within 30 days of the date of the Notice of Correction, as defined in Section 188.06. The failure of any Hotel Employer to pay an administrative fine or City penalty within 30 days may result in the assessment of an additional late fee. The additional late fee shall be ten percent of the total amount of the administrative fine or City penalty assessed for each month the amounts are unpaid, compounded to include already accrued late administrative fines and City penalties that remain unpaid.
E. Penalties and Fines under Section 186.08 and 186.09. The Division shall base its imposition of penalties and administrative fines for non-compliance with the City’s laws after considering factors, including but not limited to: (1) the extent of harm caused by the violation; (2) the nature and persistence of the violation; (3) the length of time over which the violation occurs; (4) the frequency of past violations; (5) any action taken to mitigate the violation; and (6) the financial burden to the Hotel Employer.
Source: City of Los Angeles, Charter and Codes (American Legal Publishing, codelibrary.amlegal.com)URL: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/los_angeles/latest/lamc/0-0-0-286247Fetched: 10/24/2026