Legal decisions regularly face hospitality managers in their day-to-day operations. While managers cannot monitor all applicable laws, they should focus on preventative legal management through sound ethical behavior, proper employee training and management, and understanding contracts and dispute resolution processes. Managing legally and ethically can help reduce liability risks for hospitality businesses.

1. Legal Decision-making by Hospitality Managers George Papadopoulos, Attorney at Law, LL.M. (Cantab.) IEMA Summer School DokuzEylül University Izmir

2. Shouldn’t they be focusing solely on management? Of course… But, bare in mind that: In the day-to-day operation of a hospitality facility, it is the manager, not the company attorney, who will most influence the legal position of the operation. “60 to 70 % of the decisions he made on a daily basis involve some type of legal dimension”. Robert James (founder of one of the largest hotel contract management companies in the US) Why should hospitality managers care about the law?

3. Choosing a business structure (organizational: company form / operational: owner-operator; franchise; management contract; real estate investment trust; condominium; long term lease) Dealing with administrative agencies (e.g. responding to inquiries etc) Getting into contracts (B2B, B2C) Dealing with issues arising from the execution thereof Complying with your legal responsibilities as a hospitality operator Selecting & managing employees Think of:

4. Managers CANNOT monitor every piece of hospitality legislation (100 s of laws & regulations enacted each year in every jurisdiction concerning the provision of food, lodging, travel, and entertainment services) How should hospitality managers deal with the law?

5. 1. Preventative legal management How should hospitality managers deal with the law?

6. 2. Sound ethical behaviour How should hospitality managers deal with the law?

7. Reduce employee errors Reduce litigation and liability The Goal

9. Train

10. Educate

11. Manage and MotivatePreventative legal management

13. Negligent hiring

14. Negligent supervision

15. Failure to properly trainWhy STEM ? Vicarious Liability

16. Is it legal? Does it hurt anyone? Is it fair? Am I being honest? Would I care if it happened to me? Would I publicize my action? What if everyone did it? Ethical Behaviour

17. Dealing with contracts

19. How ? Get it in writing Enforceability (in some cases) Evidence Email too, but be aware of qualified electronic signatures (Dir. 99/93, Art. 1316-4 CC, Art. 287, 288 CPC, Decr. 2001-272, §126a BGB, art. 3 greek P.D. 150/2001 )

20. Make sure you follow the “mirror image” rule i.e. a clear and unequivocal offer must be mirrored by an equally clear and unequivocal acceptance Otherwise, the “battle of the forms” may lead to uncertainty (UCC § 2-202; Butler v Ex-Cell-O-Corporation Ltd. [1979] 1 WLR 401; Gibson v Manchester City Council [1979] 1 WLR 294; § 150 BGB, Art. 195; 196 gr.CC) Use clear, unequivocal language

22. Ask for clarification if necessary

23. Note time deadlines for performance

24. Educate staff

25. Ensure the performance of third parties Ensure execution

27. Personal surety/guarantee

28. Mortgage/hypothecation

29. Bank’s letter of guarantee

30. Retention of title

31. Bills of exchange, checks Ensure execution

33. Liquidated Damages, Penalty clauses Ensure execution

35. Lawsuit Specific performance; Termination of contract; Rescission; Damages ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) Negotiation; Mediation; Conciliation; Arbitration What if something goes wrong?

36. Negotiation “A discussion in order to reach an agreement”

37. The Competitive Style The Cooperative Style Negotiation

38. The Goal: Obtain concessions while making as few concessions as possible The Approach: Positional: 1st: determine bottom line 2nd : ascertain opening position 3rd: negotiate The Competitive Style

40. Take strong/specific position

41. Reveal little information

42. No empathy

43. Argumentative rather than conciliatory

44. Narrow issues for negotiationThe Competitive Style

45. The cooperative negotiator aims to: Put the client first Be fair and use objective criteria Maintain good relations Look for common ground Make reasonable offers Expand the negotiation & Add value for both parties Objective is to maximize gains for all parties and reach a mutually beneficial agreement (win-win) The Cooperative (problem solving) style

46. Separate people from the problem Focus on interests (what are the parties seeking); not on positions Be creative. Invent options for mutual gains Agree upon objective criteria Know your best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA) Tips

47. Stephen Barth, Hospitality Law, 3rd ed., 2009. Michael Boella& Allan Panett, Principles of Hospitality Law, 2nd ed., 1999 Jack Jefferies, Understanding hospitality law, 1990 Norman Cournoyer & Anthony Marshall, Hotel, restaurant and travel law, 1983 John R. Goodwin, Hotel and hospitality law, 1992 John R. Goodwin, Jolie R. Gaston, Hotel, hospitality, and tourism law, 1997 David K. Hayes, Jack D. Ninemeier, Human resources management in the hospitality industry, 2008 L.K. Singh, Trends In Travel And Tourism And Law, 2008 Trevor C. Atherton and Trudie A. Atherton, Tourism, Travel and Hospitality Law, 1999 Frederic Miller, Agnes Vandome and John McBrewster, Hospitality law, 2010 Mark Poustie and Norman Geddes , Hospitality and Tourism Law, 1998 Further reading

48. Cooper , C. , J. Fletcher , D. Gilbert , R. Shepherd , and S. Wanhill (eds.). Tourism: Principles and Practice, 1998 Tom Baum , Human Resource Management for Tourism, Hospitality, and Leisure: An International Perspective, 2006 L. Bihl, Droit des hôtels, restaurants et campings, 1981 F. Boulanger, Tourisme et loisirs dans les droits privées européens, 1996 C. Bureaux et E. Bureaux , Droit et Organisation du tourisme en France, 1988 J. Calais Auloy, Consumérisme et droit du tourisme, 1989 Daniel Desurvivre, Le timeshareou la multipropriété échangée, 1995 Pierre Py, Droit du tourisme, 2002 F. Servoin, Institutions touristiques et Droit du tourisme , 1981

49. Richard Shell, Bargaining for Advantage—Negotiations Strategies for Reasonable People, 2006 Robert H. Mnookin, Scott R. Peppet and Andrew S. Tulumello, Beyond Winning: Negotiating to Create Value in Deals and Disputes , 2000 Gilbert Ahamer, Surfing Global Change: Negotiating Sustainable Solutions, 2006 Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton and Shelia Heen, Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most , 1999 Roger Fisher and Danny Ertel, Getting Ready to Negotiate: The Getting to YES Workbook , 1999 LaviniaHall, Negotiation: Strategies for Mutual Gain, 1993 Peter Stark and Jane Flaherty, The Only Negotiating Guide You'll Ever Need , 2002

50. Thank you!

51. George Papadopoulos Attorney at law, LL.M. (Cantab.) E-mail: george-papadopoulos@cantab.net http://greeklaw.wordpress.com Contact Info