Regulatory and Legal Affairs

📰 In a court ruling next year, Google may face various antitrust remedies, including the possibility of selling its Chrome browser. The DOJ's request last week aims to dissolve Google's perceived search monopoly. Google currently holds around 60% of the US browser market through Chrome. Judge Amit Mehta declared Google an illegal monopolist in general search services and search text advertising. Proposals suggested include not only divesting Chrome but also sharing search data and avoiding self-preferencing. Such changes could significantly impact Google's business, with potential revenue losses from search data syndication alone predicted to be up to 10%, akin to Meta's $10 billion hit from Apple's privacy policy. The trial set for April, with a diverse range of outcomes, could see billions shaved off Google's empire and a reshaped digital landscape.

💸 Californians voted against Proposition 32—50.8% opposed—blocking an increase of the state minimum wage from $16 to $18 by 2026. The Associated Press confirmed the results on Election Day. California still maintains a high minimum wage, second to Washington State's $16.66 starting January 1, while California's has doubled since 2010. Fast-food workers, following AB 1228 passed in fall 2023, see a separate minimum of $20 as of April 1. However, restaurant traffic has declined nearly 6%, outpacing the national average, after the wage hike.

💲 In Texas, U.S. District Judge Sean Jordan struck down the Department of Labor's final overtime pay rule, which would have raised the threshold incrementally to $58,656 by 2025. The rule, which went into effect on July 1, raised the yearly threshold to $44,000, impacting nearly 4 million salaried U.S. workers. However, this will now revert to the pre-pandemic level of $35,568. The Restaurant Law Center and Texas Restaurant Association's lawsuit led to this ruling, which the hospitality industry largely supports.

💰 The UK Government is introducing legislation to reform business rates, beginning its delivery as promised in the Labour manifesto. Funded by a tax increase on the top one percent of high-value properties, the bill aims to permanently cut rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure businesses from 2026. Last month, business rates support was extended for a year, but reduced from 75% to 40%, capped at £110,000. This will lead to an average 140% increase in rates for over 250,000 premises; restaurants' bills will rise from £5,051 to £12,122, and pubs from £3,938 to £9,451.

📌 HOTREC reports that Booking.com is legally required to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) as of today but has not met compliance or communicated necessary changes by the deadline. Booking.com's market share exceeds 70%, but changes to parity clauses and data access are considered cosmetic or unaddressed, such as the pre-payment option and website interface concerns. HOTREC's Director General, Marie Audren, urges the European Commission to investigate Booking.com for non-compliance.

📡 In the travel industry, digital regulation is intensifying. Europe launched the "EU Data Package" with five legislative pieces: Data Governance Act, Digital Services Act, Digital Markets Act, Data Act, and Artificial Intelligence Act, within the last five years. Similar laws have emerged in the U.S. and China, affecting data privacy, consumer protection, competition, AI, marketplace platforms, and taxation.

🛡 Gwen Mills, president of Unite Here, a labor union with approximately 275,000 members in the US and Canada, discusses the ongoing hotel worker strikes for improved wages, workloads, and staffing, which were cut during the COVID era. Unionized workers are striking in cities with high living costs, such as San Francisco, Seattle, Honolulu, Boston, and Baltimore. The hospitality industry has recovered from the pandemic, with hotel owners making record profits, yet workers' wages have not kept pace. Mills emphasizes the need for respect and asserts that one job should be enough to live on. The strikes aim to address the gap between soaring room rates, which hit record highs with $100 billion in gross operating profits in 2022, and the quality of service and labor treatment. The conversation touches on the challenges faced by housekeepers, bellmen affected by operational changes, and the broader economic factors influencing wage demands. Unions are calling for re-investment in the workforce to maintain high hospitality standards amidst changing hotel ownership dynamics, where detached investors focus on bottom-line profits.

🏠 Alexandros Vassilikos was unanimously re-elected as President of HOTREC in Warsaw. Morten Thorvaldsen (Norway) became Vice-President, Adrian Cummins (Ireland) Treasurer, and Sami Nisametdin (Finland) Chair of SSD. European hospitality leaders discussed EU priorities, sustainability, digital trends, and policies impacting the industry. HOTREC's next General Assembly will be in April 2025 in Copenhagen, Denmark. For media, contact Jasper Dober at [email protected]

💳 Legal aimed to reach 100,000 customer enrollments in their loyalty program by the end of 2024. Enrollment rates were initially high but began to decrease, leading Legal to seek assistance from the Paytronix Strategy & Analytics team to revitalize the program and meet their enrollment target.