Chinas Hotel Legislation and the United Kingdom Hotel Legislations - Report Example

Human Resource Management By + Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………..3 Objective of the Report……………………………………………………3 Hotel and Leisure Sector Legislation……………………………………..4 China’s Hotel Legislation……………………………………………………4 United Kingdom Hotel Legislations…………………………………………6 Expectations of the hotel and leisure sector in other continents……………..8 China’s hotel and leisure sector expectations………………………………..9 United Kingdom’s hotel and leisure expectations………………………….10 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………..11 Introduction This report critically analyses the hotel and leisure sector outside United States of America to facilitate Excelsia’s expansion. The report will mainly cover the employment conditions in United Kingdom as a European Union country and China as a non-European Union country. The Hotel and leisure sectors in these countries include catering services, restaurants, hotels, canteens, cafes, accommodation facilities and similar establishments. This sector is very labour intensive and therefore its growth has a great impact on employment. According to a recent study, the sector employs more young people and women than other sectors in the economy. This aspect is quite positive as it tries to balance the employment level in the economy. In addition to the large full time employees it has, the sector also hires part time seasonal workers during peak periods such as summer and during the festive seasons. The sector is relatively young as compared to many established sectors in the economy and is characterized by many short periods of job stability (Alon, 2003). Despite the sector employing workers that have low formal education, it has less unfavourable physical environment as compared with other sectors. Tourism is an important characteristic of the hotel and leisure sector, which contributes significantly to the creation of employment and as a result lead to economic growth (Atkearney.com). Objective of the report The main aim of this analysis is to gather substantial information on the employment conditions of the hotel and leisure sector in United Kingdom and China that would facilitate the Excelsia’s expansion. The first objective will be to collect information on the various levels of employment and other important indicators of employment indicators in the hotel sectors of these countries (Yang, 2003). Second, the analyses will get an overview of the major challenges regarding the working and employment conditions facing the hotel and leisure sector in the region. Finally, description of the contribution of the respective governments and other social partners towards helping solve these challenges will be addressed (Xu, 1999). The hotel and leisure sector is mainly divided into three main categories: hotels and short stay accommodation; restaurants, cafes and bars; and canteens and other catering services. Hotels and restaurants are mostly linked to tourism, as they comprise of about 65% of the tourist sector in their respective countries. The bars, cafes, and canteens are majorly constituted of locals. The hotels and restaurants are highly seasonal businesses due to this fact. The hotel and leisure sector is also very sensitive to political events and business cycles as they affect the working conditions in various ways (Williams and Rattray, 2005). Hotel and Leisure Sector Legislation It is essential to identify the various legislations that govern the respective countries’ hotel and leisure sectors before expanding ones business into these territories. This is essential since it will put the company at a position to consider if it will oblige to the requirements or consider changing its decision in expanding its business operations in the country. In this section, the analysis separates the hotel legislations of the two countries in a bid to help Excelsia’s management in their comparison. China’s Hotel Legislation The Hotel and leisure sector in China has no unique accounting or commercial rules that are applicable to it. It complies with the same rules that apply to other sectors. The sector has a duty to guests. The hotels in the country are required to provide accommodation and security to their guests. These hotels should also ensure that their guests are observing rules on public order and morals. Each of these hotels is also required to provide services satisfying standards of the grade awarded to it. Hotels in the country have a public duty of receiving guests with an exception of them having a reasonable ground for rejection such as unwillingness or inability to pay the required amount of money (Tourism Research, 2009). There are also some specific rules, which relate to the hotel’s duty of care. This is usually in respect of valuables taken to be kept by the hotel attendant or the ones kept in the hotel rooms by the guests. This results to liability of the hotel in case of loss, theft, or damage of such valuables. There is a specific regulation in accordance to duty to guests that requires hotels to display applicable rates of the different hotels services they offer for the guests to see (Ballester, 2013). The employment and pensions of workers in the hotel and leisure sector in China are the similar to those in other sectors. In regards to environments, the hotels in the country are required to meet specific legal requirements pertaining environmental issues. The major concern in this area concerns the collection and treatment of solid, liquid, and organic waste: treatment and disposals of oils and hazardous waste. The wastewater and sewerage system is also a concern of the country’s environmental regulations. Due to all this restrictions and requirements, the companies in the hotel sector in the country are required to design and implement a waste management programme comprising of the selection, storage, and disposal methods. This criterion should be designed in accordance to the local requirements. The firms in this sector should also comply with the applicable regulations in relation to noise. The discotheques, lobby areas, kitchens, plant rooms, laundries, and waste management areas should not exceed the maximum decibel limits given by the law (Yu, 2005). In relation to food and hygiene legislations, there are no specific rules applicable to the hotel sector. The general legislations relating to the handling of food and beverages apply. The hotels in the country are subject to the regulations of the food and beverage industry and are therefore subject to the regular inspections to ensure they are observed. The hotels in the country should also ensure reasonable care in the health and safety aspects of the premises is carried out for the benefit of their esteemed guests (www.cmslegal.com). The fire safety measures should be put in place for the protection of their guests. These measures include the regular maintenance of the fire alarm, extinguishing systems and sprinklers. There should also be sufficient employee training on fire prevention techniques, safe and adequate exits, fire safety, and electrical safety. There should be adequate maintenance of the air-conditioning and heating systems to ensure appropriate indoor air quality (Rousaki and Alcott, 2006). These hotels are additionally required to assess and evaluate their safety and health hazards to facilitate them being at a better position design mitigation programmes. The hotels are also required to observe the anti-smoking rules in public places. In accordance to this, they are required to have smoking areas and hotel rooms with smoke extractors reserved for smoking guests (Chen, 2005). The hotel’s administrative staff should properly record information relating to foreign nationals guests. This information should be readily available if requested by the authority. There are no special rules applicable to this sector in regards to insurance and intellectual property but many when it comes licencing. The hotels are required to have approximately 22 different types of approvals. Some of these licences include the approval to operate in a named special industry hotels, an alcohol and tobacco license to permit the selling of alcohol and cigarettes; a foreign exchange license; culture approval for bar operations; and a satellite television permit (Pharm World, 2008). United Kingdom Hotel Legislations The legislations in the hotel sector in United Kingdom have both similarities and differences as compared to that in China. The sector has no special accounting or commercial rules. The firms in the sector apply the general accounting rules applied by the firms in the other sectors. The sector has various legislations pertaining to duty to guests. The most common one being the displaying of hotel rates in the reception area of the hotels. These rates should include the value added tax. The cafes and bars in the hotel and leisure sector should also display a list of their prices and any cover or service charge that they may have (Pr̆ikryl, 2002). The hotel should not sell tobacco or alcoholic drinks to anyone under the age of sixteen (www.europa.eu, 2015). It should display this as a notice in its premises to sensitize its customers. The firms in this sector are liable for the loss or damage of guest’s property caused by negligence or breach of contract. To mitigate this loss, the hotels are allowed to limit their liability such providing up to 50 pounds per item and 100 pounds per guest. This is allowed as long as the hotel displays this notice at its reception (Davies, 1999). There are no specific regulations on employment and pensions that apply to hotels in the country. Despite this fact, the hotel operators should be fully aware of the minimum wage regulations and working time regulations as hotels employ staff for long hours at a low pay. The hotels in the country should get authorization from their local water companies if they have the plans of discharging their trade effluents such as detergents into the public sewers. In regards to health and safety, the hotels are required to carry out fire risk assessments for the main intention of identifying fire precautions. These precautions need to comply with the fire regulations in the country. The hotels are also required to comply with the smoking act of 2007 that banned smoking in public places (Riley, 1990). The hotels should therefore have designated rooms’ fitted smoke extractors for smoking. In any case, a hotel in the country gets water from a private water supply, it is its responsibility to ensure that the water meets the required standards and the supply of the water is registered with the local authority (www.people1st.co.uk). The general data and information laws apply to all the information collected from the guests. The hotels are required to keep all the vital information of guests above sixteen years of age. More information is collected from guests who are not citizens of the United Kingdom and handed over to the authorities if requested. Hotels in the country should have public liability insurance policies and business insurance policies. There are no specific rules concerning intellectual property in the sector (Plunkett, 2009). Just like in China, the country also has various licencing legislations in this sector. A hotel is required to have a premises license to permit the sale of alcohol, operating of bars, opening hours of restaurants and entertainment. The specific employee selling alcohol in the hotel is also required to obtain a personal license. For a hotel to play music, it needs performing rights society licences to permit them to do so. The hotel needs a marriage license if it intends to offer civil marriage ceremonies on its premises. Other licenses that are vital for the hotel include: television licence; license to provide climbing, trekking, caving and water sport activities; license to offer certain beauty and health treatments such as massages on its premises; and licences for gambling activities in the hotels (Evans, 1999). Expectations of the hotel and leisure sector in other continents It is vital to do an assessment of the expectations of this sector in other continents before deciding on carrying out an expansion of the business operations into them. These expectations would help the management of Excelsia in determining if the new markets have opportunities that can be utilized. This report covers the expectations of this sector in both China and United Kingdom. China’s hotel and leisure sector expectations The hotel and leisure sector in China is promising since it has expanded rapidly over the past recent years. The recent events such as the 2010 Shanghai Expo and the 2008 Beijing Olympics are some of the reasons behind this trend. Despite the country being one of the best technological destinations in the world, it has a shortage of skilled labour in this sector. This is due to few educational institutions focusing on hospitality and tourism. Those that have lack schedules that prepare the hospitality staff to meet excellent standards (www.ey.com, 2015). China’s government has acknowledged the essential role that the hotel and leisure sector plays towards expanding the country’s economy. The expansion of Excelsia’s business operations into the country will act in line with the government’s intention. This implies that the government will be in full support of their expansion into the country (Otis, 2012). China has recently released guidelines towards the acceleration of the hotel and leisure sector in the country to make it a significant section of the economy. To achieve this goal, the guidelines encourage construction of more hotels and leisure centres within the country. In addition to this, the government has started to develop more qualified and skilled workers into the sector. This would be the most appropriate time for a hotel firm to venture into this new market as it will be part of the development of the hotel sector in the country (Fuchs, Ricci and Cantoni, 2012). The Shanghai Expo and the Beijing Olympics has helped the hotel and leisure sector in China to mature by getting exposure to both foreign and domestic travellers. The country had approximately 10230 hotels in 2006 but currently boasts to have more than 15500 hotels. The business revenue from the hotel services has also increased from $24.5 billion in 2006 to $45 billion in 2011. As this sector, grow over the years, the demand for skilled workers in the various fields in the sector increases. According to recent studies, this sector has estimations of being the largest employer in the country. The estimations of employment are estimated to rise from 23 million jobs in 2011 to approximately 27 million jobs in 2025. The hotel and leisure sector in the country has the capacity of providing the locals with higher paying jobs than the ones in the other sectors (Grunewald, 2010). The sector has high employee turnover just like the other sectors in China. The employee turnover in this sector is as high as 40% per year. The high employee turnovers combined with recent expansions in the sector widens the gap between the supply and demand of qualified labour needed to meet the international standards and best practices in the sector (www.ibisworld.com). Hotels expanding their business operations in the country should assist in training the country’s unskilled hospitality workers. The enhancement of the hotel and leisure sector in the country should be in collaboration between both the private and public sectors in the economy. The hotels will form part of the private sector which will provide qualified teachers to train the workers. They will also come up with a competitive curriculum that will equip its students with the necessary skills to encounter the various responsibilities at work (Kivela, 2005). United Kingdom’s hotel and leisure expectations The hotel and leisure sector in the United Kingdom expects growth in its current and future periods. This is due to the recent growth rate as witnessed in the sector. The hotel sector in some of the major provinces such as London have improved in their performance and are now responsible for the thousands of employment they provide to the locals. This sector is currently promising despite the fact that it was massively affected by the 2007 recession that hit many countries in Europe. The sector has improved in performance since it generates revenue almost equal to the one it produced on its peak just before the recession. If this trend goes on, the sector will reach its peak of generating 17% of the country’s gross domestic product (Nykiel, 2011). United Kingdom has highly skilled hotel staff with required qualification unlike its counterpart in the east, China. Most of the hotel and leisure personnel in this country are qualified and practice their service at international standards (Middleton and Clarke, 2001). The country has well established higher learning institutions that train students on hospitality using a curriculum that meets international standards. Companies expanding their operations into this market such as Excelsia will be at ease in their selection of workers. These companies will not have the burden of training their staff and therefore save much money, which would be incurred in this activity. The United Kingdom attracts many tourists from various countries around the world and therefore serves as a unique market to expand a hotel and leisure business into (Luo et al., 2012). Conclusion This report has covered various aspects of the hotel and leisure departments in both United Kingdom and China. The report entails the working conditions, legislations, and market expectations relevant to this sector in both the countries. The management of Excelsia should analyse these different aspects of both the countries critically before deciding on entering new markets. The report concentrated majorly on the employment conditions and legislation regarding employment due to the labour intensity of the hotel and leisure sector. References Alon, I. 2003. Chinese culture, organizational behavior, and international business management. 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