Human Trafficking Prevention Update
BEST and Marriott and ECPAT programs approved by the State
In the 2021 Legislative Session, the State Legislature passed HB 390, requiring all employees at hotels with more than 10 rooms receive annual training on preventing human trafficking activity.
The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) is the state agency responsible for enforcing the new training requirement, and that office has been reviewing various training programs for approval.
THLA members have free access to the BEST training program.
You may access that training program via the THLA member resources page, available here.
Incumbent hotel employees hired before January 1, 2022 have until December 31, 2022 to be trained by an OAG-approved program.
Employees hired on or after January 1, 2022 will have to be trained by an OAG-approved program within 90 days of hiring.
Signage:
The new human trafficking training law requires hotels to post signage, in English and Spanish, produced by the OAG in a back-of-house area. . The signage required by the new human trafficking prevention law is available at this OAG website for download here. This signage should be posted on 11×17 paper in English and Spanish, and the signage should be posted now.
THLA has human trafficking prevention signage printed and available for THLA members at no charge.
If you are interested in getting some of our free signs, just let us know by email at we can mail them out to you.
City of Houston Requirements:
Hotels within the City of Houston must also comply with that City’s human trafficking training requirements, including posting city-signage in addition to the OAG signage.
Is the training required for employees who have no interaction with the public. For example: dishwashers and cooks?
Hi Cathy- Thank you for your comment. The training is required for all employees. Please let us know if you have any other questions or need assistance accessing the training.