Hotels invest significant amounts of money and time to recruit, hire and train employees, often using recent developments in advertising (social media), technology (online applications), and psychology (personality and behavioral assessments). So why is it that hotels—after hiring and training—still manage people like they are operating in the 1950s?

From my interactions with hotel operators and hotel employees for the past 30 years, a disconnect continues to exist between those operators and their employees; and that disconnect is primarily driven by the operators’ inability or unwillingness to recognize, comprehend and meet the basic needs of employees.

Below, I have set out 5 reasons why hotels lose their good and often best employees.

1. Not scheduling in advance
As challenging as it may be, hotels must provide employees with their schedules at least two weeks in advance, and three weeks in advance for the holiday season. Employees have lives outside the workplace, and they want to plan those lives. If you are not using a cloud-based scheduling app, then you are way behind the curve on this. Bottom line: by scheduling in advance, you demonstrate to your employees that you care about them; employees do not care how much you know, until they know how much you care.

2. Lousy paid time off (PTO)
A hotel with a shoddy PTO policy reminds me of the last economic crash in 2008 when hotel companies would not allow their employees to travel while simultaneously besmirching the general public and other businesses that cut their travel budgets. Generous PTO is a magnet for good employees, even if it is “use it or lose it” so it does not accrue (a good policy for small operators).

Bottom line: PTO is good for employees, good for productivity and good for the business.

3. Not holding employees accountable
It is often amazing how long hotels take to separate from poor employees. Hold employees accountable to core values and performance targets from the get-go. If they do not comply or perform, coach them and develop a performance improvement plan, then support their development. If it does not work, it is time to go! No more warnings, no suspensions (which is an obsolete tool and creates chaos for the business)—accept the fact that you made a poor hire and ease on down the road, Dorothy.

Bottom line: Good employees like to work with other good employees; if you are not holding your poor performers accountable, your good performers will walk, leaving you with a whole team of poor performers.

4. Not embracing remote work stations
Seriously what is the hold up here? Do you have trust and control issues? Assuming you are utilizing cloud-based platforms (if you are not, stop reading this and learn about them now), working remotely is ideal for marketing, sales, revenue and accounting staff.

I’ve heard of abysmal decisions by hotel sales departments during the last weather challenge in Houston. We had ice and snow, which we never have, so people do not know how to deal with it much less drive in it. The mayor was advising everyone to stay home, but traditional hotel sales execs were pressuring their staff to venture in, telling them to bring a bag to stay overnight in case they could not get back home. This was zero notice for non-essential personnel (or alternates for essential personnel) that had children and pets.

This behavior was incredibly shortsighted and deplorable, putting their employees’ lives at risk for zero benefit; even worse, it was premeditated, not spontaneous split-second decision making. It also demonstrated a total lack of empathy for employees and their lives outside the workplace.

Bottom line: Working remotely, with the right people, the right guidelines, and the right oversight increases productivity and makes for much happier employees.

5. Not being sensitive to employees’ physical health
There are two primary situations at the front desk that stand out here: one is insisting that front-desk associates stand at the desk throughout their shift. Is this some kind of acid test? I hear from many front-desk associates that the standing created leg and back challenges for them and ultimately led to their leaving the hotel and most often the industry.

Over the last 20 years, when I have brought it to the attention of GMs, the response I often hear is “Well, that is what I had to do, so they should, too.” What a ridiculous justification for continuing to insist on an archaic and unhealthy practice (keep in mind that it was reported during the Iraq War that the U.S. used standing for eight hours at a time as a method to break down the enemy during interrogation sessions).

The second situation is stationing smoking and vaping areas near the front entrance. The secondhand smoke and vape (both poison) drifts right into the desk area and, since breathing is not voluntary, the desk agents are forced to breathe it in. This is a reprehensible practice that also alienates customers. Smoke and vapor drift up to 200 feet; please do the math. You would never allow someone to stand at your entrance with a spray bottle of poison misting guests and employees, and yet, that is exactly what you are doing when you allow smoking and vaping near entrances and exits.

I encourage you to immediately add e-cigarettes and vaping to your no-smoking prohibitions in public areas, guestrooms, registration cards and websites. Then strongly consider making your entire premises tobacco and vapor free. You will be amazed how positively it will impact your employees and bottom line; because how often does a decision please 87% of your target market?

Laws impacting innkeepers and their hotels have been enacted since the Middle Ages. As the popularity of travel and entertainment grew, so did the industry to accommodate. There was a major increase in demand for locations, amenities, and services as well as the laws to accommodate these accommodations.

Today, it is fair to say that keeping up with the relevant federal, state, and local laws, as well as the potential for liability, can be overwhelming at times. Hopefully, the suggestions below will provide a path to prevention and a measure of relief, with the second half focusing on employment and training to follow in a future post.

The following list of suggestions, sadly, not exhaustive by any means, has been aggregated as litigation has ensued and the industry has evolved:

1. Strictly comply with limited liability statutes (aka: innkeeper statutes). You may need to retain safety deposit boxes
   at the desk; you may need more conspicuous signage.
2. Make sure your master code for “in room” safes has been modified from the manufacturer’s default code.
3. Inspect your viewfinders (aka peepholes) for tampering. Consider providing a sticky pad in the room with
   a note to place one over the viewfinder for added privacy.
4. Have only a few rooms with bathtubs to meet actual demand. Install hand held shower heads and seating in the showers.
5. Install and anchor grab bars appropriately in all baths and showers.
6. Install scald protectors on water outlets.
7. Add night lights in guest rooms and bathrooms.
8. Regularly inspect all furniture for stability and carpets for rips.
9. Enable the guest to dial 911 from the “in room”phone, and instruct your staff to call 911 promptly upon request.
10. Inspect all security bars, deadbolts, etc. daily, and have door stops available at the front desk for guests that would like to use them.
11. Avoid using breakfast room service door hangers to place orders.
12. Pay attention to the air quality of your guest rooms, remain cautious when considering cleaning products,
    paint fumes, 2nd and 3rd hand smoke/vapor contamination, and routinely vacuum/clean upholstery and drapes.
    As air quality becomes more and more important to guests, in addition to guests who suffer from breathing
    disorders, allergies, and asthma, these practices become essential to your guest experience. Hold non-compliant
    guests accountable, and try to create safe methods that allow fresh air into the room.
13. Have detailed protocol for pest control and bed bug prevention.
14. Avoid leaving unattended lists of guest names and room numbers at
    workout and spa access points.
15. Remove free weights (barbells and dumbbells) from unattended workout rooms.
16. Comply with the Graham Baker pool act.
17. Comply with the ADA.
18. Comply with OSHA requirements including training and MSDS.
19. Comply with all building codes including occupancy limits, carbon monoxide detectors, exit sign placement, emergency exit doors (CO
    alarms installed where appropriate with portable, battery operated alarms available at front desk).
20. Comply with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (aka PCI-DSS); as well as all other state and perhaps
    locally enacted data privacy protection laws.

Since the courts do make a distinction between the two even when hospitality managers do not, it is important to establish and state those differences as clearly as possible.  A transient guest, for example, who checks into a hotel for a one-night stay but does not pay for the room by the posted check-out time the next morning may be “locked out.” In other words, in a hotel with an electronic locking system, the Front Desk Manager could deactivate the guest’s key, thus preventing readmittance to the room until such time that the account was settled.  On the other hand, a tenant with a lease enjoys greater protection under the law, and could not be locked out so easily.  In most states, this individual establishes a property right in the leased premises, and a judicial eviction (also known as a forcible entry and detainer) is usually required to remove a tenant from the leased premises.  A transient guest, on the other hand, does not establish a property right, and although he enjoys a right to privacy as a guest, this is superseded by the right of the innkeeper to enter at reasonable times for housekeeping, maintenance, and security purposes, with or without the guest’s permission.  From the innkeeper’s perspective, the differences are important in a number of other areas.  

Most state limited-liability statutes apply to the innkeeper/guest relationship, but not to the landlord/tenant relationship.  Many statutes and ordinances–particularly those regarding locks on doors and windows, and swimming pool parameters–are often more burdensome for landlords than they are for innkeepers.  To comply with the applicable law, it is important for an innkeeper to know whether his occupants are transient guests or tenants.  This information allows him to ensure his right of entry, and leaving limited liability protections, and lock-out capabilities intact.  

It is sometimes a matter for the courts to decide whether an individual is a transient guest or tenant, but the following characteristics can help in making that determination:

• Billing format. Transient guests tend to be charged a daily rate for their stay; tenants are more likely to be billed on a weekly or monthly basis.
• Tax payment. Transient guests must pay local occupancy taxes; tenants are ordinarily exempt from such payment.
• Address use. Transient guests generally list another location as their permanent address; tenants generally use the facilities’ address as their permanent address for such things as mail, driver’s license, voter registration, and the like.
• Contract format. Transient guests generally enter into a rooming agreement via a registration card; tenants normally have a lease agreement or a specific contract separate from, or in addition to, their registration card.
• Existence of deposit. Transient guests generally do not put up a deposit. This is true even if the hotel requires a transient guest to present a credit card upon checking into the hotel. Tenants are almost always required to give their landlord a deposit. Often this deposit is equal to a specified number of months of rent.
• Length of stay. While it is widely believed that any guest who occupies a room in excess of 30 days becomes a tenant, the fact remains that length of stay is usually not the sole criterion on which the transient guest/tenant determination is made.  Most guests who occupy the same hotel room for over 30 days may do so without affecting their transient status. It is true, however, that the length of stay for a tenant does tend to be longer than that of a transient guest.
• Existence of a permanent residence.  The question whether the occupant owns or leases a residence at a location other than the lodging property remains a pertinent one.  Transient guests usually have “permanent” residences at other locations; tenants intending to establish a permanent primary residence at your property ordinarily do not.

For a statement which can be added to a hotel registration card and helps to demonstrate the intent to maintain an innkeeper/guest relationship, log on to: www.HospitalityLawyer.com and click on “Find A Form” under the Solutions Menu.

For further information on this topic check out Long Term Hotel Guests Might Not Be So Easy to Remove by Sandy Garfinkel and Eric J. Zagrocki of Eckert Seamans.

1. Has the hotel identified bed bugs on the premises in the last twenty-four months?
2. If so, what steps did the hotel take to eliminate the infestation?
3. What types of preventative training occur at the hotel?
4. How frequently does the training occur?
5. How often are the rooms and common areas inspected for bed bugs?
6. How frequently is the property proactively treated for bed bugs?
7. Who is the bed bug treatment provider?

The business of housing travelers carries with it the inevitable risk of acquiring a bed bug infestation. Realize that even the most luxurious hotels can’t reliably guarantee that you won’t encounter bed bugs during your stay. However, the hotel must still provide reasonable care to its customers; asking these questions will help you ascertain the level of care being provided and how diligently the hotel maintains it.

The justification for the scanners is that they assist in age verification and fake ID detection. And law enforcement is encouraging and sometimes requiring the use of scanners for these reasons.

But the saving and storing of more information than is necessary to verify age, or the sharing or selling of the information to a third party without the consent of the patron, may violate state laws and/or invade the privacy of the patron.

Making the situation a little more complicated is that these practices are enabled by the continuing evolution of technology at the speed of light, while the law, typically moving at a tortoise pace, tries to keep up.

Even if a specific law is not in place to provide boundaries for these practices, there are other civil legal pitfalls that we need to be concerned about.

Several questions should arise when these practices are being considered:

1. Does the operator have the right, without the patron’s consent, to even collect/store the information that it is being used to validate age? What about addresses, demographics, etc?
2. Are there local or state laws (be sure to check the state alcohol beverage code) that prohibit the collection or storage?
3. What is the operator’s obligation to protect the personal data that it collects? How is it being stored? Is it password and firewall protected?  Is it being aggregated with other personal information such as credit card numbers? If so, does that trigger the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards?
4. Does the operator have the right to use the collected data that was gathered, ostensibly to validate age, to market to the patrons in the future? Again, is there a local or state (such as New York) law that prohibits this practice?
5. Are they violating the privacy of the card holder by sharing the collected data with other proprietors or third party marketers?
6. What is the reason the data is being shared?  Is it for blacklisting? These practices may trigger broader based claims outside of the privacy realm.
7. How is it being shared?  If electronically, is it encrypted?

As the jury is still out on the appropriateness of some of these practices, savvy alcohol beverage outlets that are using these devices should proceed with caution. Suggested practices to be adopted in the interim include checking with a local attorney to be sure your practices are in compliance with local or state law and with your state alcohol beverage commission to be sure you are operating within their boundaries.  If the green light is given, then post a large notice where the scanners are being used, informing the patron of the practice and extent of collection (what is being collected and saved, if shared, and other potential future use).

When it comes to private data, the adage of “collection spurs protection” applies, so be sure the data is protected (using the PCI-DSS standards would be a good practice) when stored or distributed.

Clearly understand the potential consequences of a breach of the security measures. In many states, fines are significant, as are the expenses incurred to notify the affected patrons of the breach; and of course the loss of customer good will is enormous.

When you buy liability coverage for your hotel or restaurant operation, you should receive a measure of protection and peace of mind, but for some reason you remain with that gnawing feeling that all may not be well with your insurance portfolio.  You think you did what you were supposed to do.  But did you?  Do you have enough insurance?  Do you have the right kind of coverage to cover possible accidents, incidents and catastrophes?  Employer’s liability?  Liquor liability?  Auto insurance for employees who drive a car on behalf of the business?  Do you know where your liability insurance policy is?  When was the last time you read it?  Do you understand the fine print?  Do you know who the underwriter is – not the agent, but the company that is supposed to pay in the event of a claim?  Do you know whether the insurance company is financially solvent?

You are responsible for knowing and understanding the types and amounts of coverage that are in the insurance policy.  However, when you purchase it, you do not receive the actual policy.  You receive a Declaration Page (one page), which generally sets out the types and amounts of coverage, without the exclusions, restrictions and clarifying language.  These will be fully spelled out in the actual policy, which customarily you will not receive until 60 to 90 days from the date of purchase.  In other words, the Declaration Page contains the large print, while the actual policy contains the fine print, and you won’t get the latter until after you buy.  It is, therefore, imperative that before you buy the insurance, you discuss any obscure issues with the agent until the content and substance of the policy are clear to you.  Ask for written answers to your questions, and continue to request that he/she do so until you are satisfied with your comprehension of the details.  Once the policy arrives, read it and make sure you fully understand:

1.  Its language, and whether it is consistent with your agent’s earlier explanations; and

2.  Its coverage, exclusions, restrictions and clarifying language.

Do not wait until you have a claim to clarify coverage issues.

Ten years ago, the coverage issue used to be the paramount concern of the business operator when purchasing liability insurance.  Today, with the consequences of 9/11, the uncertainty in the stock market, the mortgage debacle, higher claims, and the risky investments of some insurance companies in junk bonds and derivatives, you must also be concerned with the financial ability of your insurance company to pay any and all claims you are held responsible for during the coverage period.  The last thing you want to do is buy an insurance policy and relax because you allegedly have coverage, only to find out, once a claim has been filed, that your insurance company does not have the assets to pay the claim.  Remember: If your insurance company will not or cannot pay a claim, you will be held responsible for payment.  To prevent this from happening, find out from your agent who the underwriter is, and what its rating is.  According to analysts, the stronger the rating, the more financially solvent the company is projected to be.

Rating categories rank ordinarily as follows: A-plus; A-minus; B-plus, etc., or AAA; AA; A; BBB, etc.  Today, it would be difficult to justify purchasing an insurance policy from an underwriter with a rating of less than A-minus or AA.  I recommend to my clients that they buy nothing less than A-plus or AAA rated coverage.  Ratings can be verified by contacting the rating companies directly (i.e. A.M. Best or Standard and Poors), or by calling your State Insurance Regulatory Department, usually located in the state capital.  The insurance department can also provide you with a list of complaints filed against the insurance companies for failure to pay claims in a timely fashion or to act in good faith.  This is information you need to know before you buy your policy.

Once you have the proper coverage through a financially solvent company, ascertain that the amount of the coverage meets your needs.  To ensure that you fully understand how much you actually have for the entire period, it is critical that you become familiar with the following concepts and terms: per occurrence, aggregate and umbrella or excess insurance.

If your insurance policy sets forth that you have $500,000 coverage per occurrence it means that for each and every incident that occurs, during the coverage policy period, and for which you could be held liable, your insurance company will pay up to the sum of $500,000 on your behalf.  If the judgement exceeds that amount, you shall be responsible for anything over and above $500,000 unless you have what is called umbrella or excess coverage.

If your insurance policy has the term aggregate after an amount it means that this is the total amount your insurance company will pay for all incidents and damages you are ultimately responsible for during the coverage period.  It means that if you have a $500,000 per occurrence policy and $500,000 aggregate, one claim of $500,000 would wipeout your total insurance coverage (so would two $250,000 claims).  Accordingly, it is extremely important that you assess claims that are made against you immediately to determine whether you must purchase additional coverage for the remaining coverage period.

The basic coverage that is ordinarily purchased is referred to as primary coverage, normally the coverage that will initially be used to pay any claims that occur during the policy period.  In addition, or on top of this, you can also purchase umbrella, or what is commonly referred to as excess coverage.  Be aware that this coverage only pays when and if your primary per occurrence coverage is completely exhausted from one single claim.  Assume the following scenario:

You have a $500,000 per occurrence coverage with $500,000 aggregate; you have $1 million in umbrella or excess coverage.  The policy period runs from January 1 to December 31.  An accident occurs on January 20, which is within the policy period.  The claim is settled for $750,000.  The primary coverage will pay the first $500,000 over any deductible you might have.  Your excess policy should pay the remaining $250,000.  However, if you have a subsequent claim from an incident that occurs on February 15, how much coverage do you have available to pay this claim?  The answer is zero.  You have depleted your coverage under your primary policy because it has a $500,000 aggregate.  Your excess policy is not available because it only pays if you have exhausted your primary per occurrence amount on a given claim, and if you do not have any primary per occurrence coverage left, the conditions for coverage of your excess policy ordinarily cannot be met.

You must also be aware of “claims made” policies.  The term “claims made” means that the coverage is only available if an actual claim is brought to the attention of the insurance company during the policy period.  Usual insurance policies cover claims that occur during the policy period, although they are not brought to the attention of the insurance company until after the coverage period has elapsed.

In spite of the problems and expense involved, insurance is not an option; it is a protection we need to operate our hotels with a sense of comfort and peace.  Avoid unpleasant surprises by doing some investigative work up front, by speaking and listening to your colleagues and by asking those questions that will make it easier for you to make the right choice, and purchase the right insurance policy for your business.

Insurance Policy Coverage Checklist

1.  General Liability (fire and casualty for the premises and hotel operations)

2.  Employers Liability (discrimination claims)

3.  Workers’ Compensation (injury on the job)

4.  Liquor Liability (dram shop liability)

5.  Swimming Pool/Spa/Workout Area Addendums

6.  Golf Course Operators Liability

7.  Employee Security Bonds

8.  Automobile Liability (autos, motorized carts, shuttle service, etc.)

9.  Outdoor/Water Activity Coverage Addendum

You’ve likely had the experience of receiving a proposed meeting/event contract that is so one-sided you want to throw it in the trash. Then you have to spend hours negotiating the same clauses that have been negotiated for decades by parties involved in similar agreements. Ultimately we spend far too much time and effort getting back to square one: mutual, fair contract clauses.

Today, we will not do business with a company that tries to seek an advantage via contract. Like Mr. Isadore Sharp of Four Seasons fame, we believe in doing business with people that we trust, and if someone tries to negotiate a contract that gives them leverage or couches us as adversaries, that does not bode well for our future relationship. Contracts should center around allocating obligations and risks fairly among the parties involved, and be structured in such a way that both parties are fairly incentivized to fulfill their obligations under the contract.

At HospitalityLawyer.com, we’ve worked hard to develop mutual meeting contract clauses so hosts and planners can spend less time renegotiating the same clauses and more time executing meetings, conferences, and events. Here are three clauses that illustrate our effort to make meeting contracts more mutual:

Indemnification
This clause shifts the risk of loss from one party to another placing the risk on the party that causes the loss via their negligence. We often review contracts with one-sided indemnification clauses, butwe believe in that old adage: If it’s good for the goose, it’s good for the gander! If one party asks the other party to indemnify it; then it’s only fair that the asking party be prepared to indemnify as well. Beware a party that won’t reciprocate the same things it requests of you.

1. Indemnification
Each party agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the other party and its employees, members, landlord, successors and assigns, from any claims, liabilities, losses, damages and expenses (including, without limitation, reasonable attorney’s fees) asserted against the other party and arising out of the indemnifying party’s negligence, willful misconduct and negligent performance of, or negligent failure to perform, any of its duties or obligations under this Agreement. The provisions of this indemnification are solely for the benefit of the parties hereto and not intended to create or grant any rights, contractual or otherwise, to any other person or entity.

A word of caution about indemnification clauses: They’re only as good as the money behind them, so ensure the indemnitor has sufficient financial assets and/or insurance in place to support the indemnification obligation.

Force Majeure
This clause is very complex, which makes it difficult to achieve true mutuality here. It excuses performance by the parties involved when that performance cannot occur due to no fault of the parties. The clause below likely favors the planner, but we believe it is fairer and more comprehensive than other clauses that place the advantage with the host. You should review this clause regularly, as unforeseen issues that interfere with performance can arise. Terrorist attacks, cyber warfare, and pandemics are just a few examples of how this clause has evolved.

2. Force Majeure
Neither party shall be considered in default in performance of its obligations should its performance thereof be delayed or prevented by force majeure. Force majeure shall include hostilities, civil commotion or riots; strike or lockout; epidemic, pandemic, norovirus, accident, fire, flood, earthquake, windstorm or explosion; lack of or failure of transportation facilities; lack of or failure of power facilities, electronic viruses and/or worms, failure of website hosting servers; regulation, ordinance, or requirement by any government or governmental agency having or claiming to have jurisdiction over the subject matter of this Agreement or over the parties; or any act of God or of Government; or any cause, existing or future, which is beyond the reasonable control and without the fault or negligence of the parties.

Americans with Disabilities Act
This clause needs to be included so each party understands its respective obligations under this law. Once included, this clause becomes a simple matter of execution. Too often, however, parties fail to include this clause in a contract, and one or both parties violate the law while assuming the other party will handle compliance.

3. Americans with Disabilities Act
1. Hotel’s Responsibilities: The Hotel shall be fully responsible for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as it may be amended, and all the rules and regulations promulgated under it (the “ADA”) with respect to: 

1. the Hotel’s policies, practices, procedures and eligibility requirements;
2. the provision of auxiliary aids and services in the Hotel, except;architectural, communications and transportation barriers in the Hotel, except barriers created by or within the control of the Group; andarchitectural, communications and transportation barriers in the Hotel, except barriers created by or within the control of the Group; and
   1. in areas designated for the exclusive use or within the control of the Group or other third parties exclusively using areas of the Hotel including, without limitation, tenants, licensees and other groups (collectively “Third Party Users”); and
   2. aids and services required for the specific activities of the Group or other Third Party Users;
3. architectural, communications and transportation barriers in the Hotel, except barriers created by or within the control of the Group; and
4. the availability of wheelchair seating spaces in assembly areas, except to the extent that the Group exercises control or direction over the arrangement of seating in an assembly area.

2. Group’s Responsibilities: The Group shall be fully responsible for compliance with the ADA with respect to:

1. the policies, practices, procedures and eligibility criteria employed by:
   1. the Group; and
   2. any person(s) other than the Hotel providing goods or services in connection with the Group’s use of or activities at the Hotel;
2. the provision of auxiliary aids and services:architectural, communication and transportation barriers created by or within the control of the Group; andarchitectural, communication and transportation barriers created by or within the control of the Group; and
   1. in areas designated for the exclusive use or within the control of the Group; and
   2. required for the specific activities of the Group (as distinct from the activities of non-Group guests of the Hotel);
3. architectural, communication and transportation barriers created by or within the control of the Group; and
4. any wheelchair seating requirements, to the extent that the Group exercises control or direction over the arrangement of seating in an assembly area.

In today’s uncertain legal climate, clear mutual clauses that fairly allocate risk will go a long way towards avoiding litigation in the future. This will, in turn, create an environment that fosters a long- term relationship between the parties involved.

A complete ban on smoking on airport property effectively complements the ban on lighters and matches aboard an aircraft. If people can’t smoke at airports, why would they need to carry a match or lighter on the premises? We will also enjoy much cleaner air on planes, as people that smoke will no longer be able to board while covered in smoke residue (third-hand smoke).

Our airports serve as a welcome mat for tourists and other travelers. How do non-smokers feel when greeted by a cloud of smoke as they exit our terminals? Outside smoking sections simply don’t work. I have yet to see smoking sections enforced at airports and, even worse, most of them are right in front of taxi lines or other gathering places. Besides, smoke travels too, and poison is poison whether you inhale it inside or outside. We should encourage expanding the recent ban of electronic cigarettes to include airport premises. While e-cigarettes may not emit smoke, they do put out harmful fumes that non-smokers should not have to endure.

I’m not advocating a restriction on the rights of smokers to smoke. Rather, I want to protect the rights of non-smoking travelers (86%): their right to clean air on all airport premises, within the facility itself, and on-board an aircraft.

Click here for more about third-hand smoke.