(a) General. A hotel or motel establishment may qualify for
exemption from the Act's overtime pay requirements, even if it is in an
enterprise described in section 3(s) and is not exempt under section
13(a)(2) because it exceeds the monetary test for exemption under that
section. The first part of section 13(b)(8) provides that the overtime
provisions of section 7 of the Act shall not apply with respect to ``any
employee employed by an establishment which is a hotel, motel * * *.''
The 13(b)(8) exemption is applicable irrespective of the annual dollar
volume of sales of a hotel or motel establishment or of the enterprise
of which it is a part.
(b) Definition of ``hotel''. The term hotel as used in section
13(b)(8) means an establishment known to the public as a hotel, which is
primarily engaged in providing lodging or lodging and meals for the
general public. Included are hotels operated by membership organizations
and open to the general public and apartment hotels which provide
accommodations for transients. However, an establishment whose income is
primarily from providing a permanent place of residence or from
providing residential facilities complete with bedrooms and kitchen for
leased periods longer than 3 months would not be considered a hotel
within the meaning of the Act. An apartment or residential hotel is not
considered a hotel for purposes of section 13(b)(8) unless more than
half of its annual dollar volume is derived from providing transient
guests representative of the general public with lodging or lodging and
meals. (See paragraph (c) of this section.) Establishments in which
lodging accommodations are not available to the public are not included.
Also excluded from the category of hotels are rooming and boarding
houses, and private residences commonly known as tourist homes. Resort
or other hotels even if they operate seasonally are regarded as hotel.
(See Cong. Rec., August 25, 1966, pages 19729-19732; Cong Rec., August
26, 1966, pages 19907-19911.)
(c) ``Transient guests''. In determining who are ``transient
guests'' within the meaning of Sec. 779.382 and paragraph (b) of this
section, as a general rule the Department of Labor would consider as
transient a guest who is free to come and go as he pleases and who does
not sojourn in the establishment for a specified time or permanently. A
transient is one who is entertained from day to day without any express
contract or lease and whose stay is indefinite although to suit his
convenience it may extend for several weeks or a season.
(d) Definition of ``motel''. The term motel as used in section
13(b)(8) means an establishment which provides services similar to that
of a ``hotel'' described in paragraph (b) of this section, but which
caters mostly to the motoring public, providing it with motor car
parking facilities either adjacent to the room or cabin rented or at
some other easily accessible place. Included in the term ``motel'' are
those establishments known to the public as motor hotels, motor lodges,
motor courts, motor inns, tourist courts, tourist lodges and the like.
(e) Hotel and motel establishments engaged in other activities. The
primary function of a hotel or motel is to provide lodging facilities to
the public. In addition, most hotels or motels provide food for their
guests and many sell alcoholic beverages. These establishments also may
engage in some minor revenue producing activities; such as, the
operation of valet services offering cleaning and laundering service for
the garments of their guests, news stands, hobby shops, the renting out
of their public rooms for meetings, lectures, dances, trade exhibits and
weddings. The exception provided for ``hotels'' and ``motels'' in
section 13(b)(8) will not be defeated simply because a ``hotel'' or a
``motel'' engages in all or some of these activities, if it is primarily
engaged in providing lodging facilities, food and drink to the public.
