`No, We Don't Provide that Service': The Harassment of Hotel Employees by Customers

Abstract

Whilst hotel management's rhetoric encourages staff to provide the best possible service by satisfying customers' needs, front line staff find themselves bearing the brunt of any abusive and sexual behaviour from customers. This article analyses the experience of harassment of hotel workers by customers. The specificities of the hotel space, the elusive sexuality that exists within the hotel, and the issue of ethnicity in relation to imbalances of power between the staff and the guest are all discussed using examples of harassment of hotel workers in a variety of workplaces and work roles. The article also explores how hotel workers deal with incidents of harassment, the complex ways in which they resist, and management reaction to harassment of their workers.

Sexual Harassment in Small‐Town New Zealand: A Qualitative Study of Three Contrasting Organizations

“…The problem of sexual harassment by customers is receiving increasing attention in the literature, (Guerrier and Adib, 2000) although policies for dealing with this issue clearly need further attention in many organizations. So far, the problem of sexual harassment by employees of other organizations has received little attention in the sexual‐harassment literature, although this source of harassment is likely to become increasingly prevalent as organizations move towards the flexible labour force, with increasing reliance on contract labour and outsourcing.…”

Exploring the measurement of basic assumptions about guests and co‐workers in the hospitality industry

“…Several studies in hospitality have identified links between emotional labour and the quality of guest service (e.g. Guerrier and Adib, 2000). The evidence indicates that the management of emotional labour throughout the industry requires a complex combination of strategies.…”

‘I'm Not Just a Housewife’: Gendered Roles and Identities in the Home‐Based Hospitality Enterprise

“…Despite the fact that the product in both larger hotels and home‐based hospitality enterprises is similar, size and the dominance of the spatial context of the home or business differentiates each type of business. Although the larger hotel can be conceptualized as containing domestic spaces with surrogate ‘home away from home’ guest experiences (Guerrier and Adib, 2000), home‐based commercial hospitality does not mimic the home setting but takes place in the actual residences of the commercial hosts. This has a dynamic impact upon the way hosts choose to articulate boundaries between familial and more commercial space, as well as the way customers respond to that separation when entering someone else's domestic space.…”

“…In the service sector women predominate in occupations that reflect family roles and daily, unremunerated, domestic chores (Howe, 1977). This is evident in the hospitality industry, where much labour is segregated along gender lines (Guerrier and Adib, 2000; Lucas, 1995; Wood, 1992), and where roles involving cleaning and housekeeping are often demeaned through association with household divisions of labour. These differ from more skilled roles.…”

“…In this analysis the role of the proprietor in the commercial home setting provides a gendered frame for identity and interaction in this private, individualized work environment. Like other occupational roles in the broader hospitality sector where most labour is demarcated by gender (Guerrier and Adib, 2000; Lucas, 1995; Wood, 1992), these business owners, as commercial home ‘hosts’ (Stringer, 1981), serve paying guests. However, this role is carried out in the domestic domain, a private and traditionally feminized space (Madigan and Munro, 1996), rather than in the capacity of ‘employee’ in a large‐scale organization.…”