Texas’s new human trafficking prevention training requirement for hotel employees formally took effect on January 1^st.  The new law is administered by the Texas Office of the Attorney General (OAG), and it requires all commercial lodging establishments with more than 10 rooms annually train employees on recognizing human trafficking activity. 

The training course can be an online or in-person training course, and the training program must be approved by the OAG.  THLA is currently working with the OAG, ECPAT-USA, BEST, and other major training providers on the training program approval process.  Additionally, the OAG created its own commercial lodging establishment human trafficking prevention training video 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. 

At this time, hotels can either wait for the OAG to approve the more commonly used training programs (ECPAT-USA, BEST, etc.) as supplemented for Texas by the various providers, or have newly hired employees watch the OAG’s free training video at the above link.  THLA will email members with updates as training programs are approved by the OAG.

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 news@texaslodging.com we can mail them out to you.

Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (BEST) is the first organization in the country entirely dedicated to working with all types of employers to prevent labor and sex trafficking.

BEST provides consultation and training to public employers and private businesses focused on reducing human trafficking while mitigating the reputational, legal, and financial risks to the business.

Since 2012, BEST has developed nationally recognized models to leverage the power of business to disrupt trafficking and has trained thousands of employees to identify and respond to suspected cases of trafficking.

The mission of BEST is to align and equip leaders to use the power of business to prevent human trafficking. Using Awareness, Consultation, Training, and Safe Jobs (ACTS)—BEST helps businesses implement best practices to prevent human trafficking.

In 2018 THLA  announced a new partnership with BEST, a national leading provider of human trafficking awareness training.

This partnership will give THLA members free access to online human trafficking training for all hotel staff.

BEST’s online human trafficking training program was created specifically for the hotel industry, and it will help your staff learn how to recognize the signs of human trafficking and take steps to stop it from occurring.

The training modules are available in English and Spanish, and there is a separate component specifically for management-level employees.

MEMBERS go here for THLA voucher codes to get access to complimentary training.