Government regulation

[HotelSecurity]

The Quebec governernment has followed the lead of some other provinces & has adopted a new private security law. The regulations to the law are being worked on & will probably be in place for June next year. It seems like they will be requiring EVERYONE including in-house & bar bouncers to be licensed. To get a license you will need to take a course estimated to be between 70 & 100 hours. There is no Grandfathering. My problem is that we are busiest on weekends. I have 5 or 6 guys that work one day a week. They have full time jobs the rest of the week. Courses will be hard for them. Anyone else been in this situation & can you tell me what happened?

[Andy Taylor]

Never been in that situation, but it is very likely that you will lose the part timers unless your company is willing to pay them to attend those classes. I know I sure wouldn't invest that kind of time, not to mention money if the officers have to pay for the class also, for a job I only worked one day a week.

[SecTrainer]

You don't mention how much time the new law gives people to comply with the training requirement (must be completed BY June 2008, or the requirement becomes law in June 2008 with some time period for compliance following that?). This would obviously impact how easy or difficult it would be for part-timers, especially, to get the training.

If people must comply BY June 2008, you have about 8 months, which would be something like 10-12 hours of training per month if you spread it out.

Another question is whether the mandated training is of the sort that some or all of it could be done "online" so that people can work it into their schedules more easily. If so, people could probably find 2 to 3 hours per week to complete the online training.

[HotelSecurity]

You don't mention how much time the new law gives people to comply with the training requirement (must be completed BY June 2008, or the requirement becomes law in June 2008 with some time period for compliance following that?). This would obviously impact how easy or difficult it would be for part-timers, especially, to get the training.

If people must comply BY June 2008, you have about 8 months, which would be something like 10-12 hours of training per month if you spread it out.

Another question is whether the mandated training is of the sort that some or all of it could be done "online" so that people can work it into their schedules more easily. If so, people could probably find 2 to 3 hours per week to complete the online training.

Again, the regulations are still being worked on but the time period I hear is 3 years. I imagine that they would not be "going after" the in-house people right away. They say that anyone dealing in security matters would need the courses. I can't see how they will enforce this. 2 of my hotels don't have daytime security but the Duty managers respond to security incidents. I wonder if they would require movie theater managers & school Principals to take them?

[SecTrainer]

Again, the regulations are still being worked on but the time period I hear is 3 years. I imagine that they would not be "going after" the in-house people right away. They say that anyone dealing in security matters would need the courses. I can't see how they will enforce this. 2 of my hotels don't have daytime security but the Duty managers respond to security incidents. I wonder if they would require movie theater managers & school Principals to take them?

Well, if Canadian legislators are anything like American legislators, *anything* is possible, especially if it doesn't make any sense!

I guess the only thing you can do is keep your ear to the ground and try to get up to speed early. If you know which legislators are sponsoring the law, you might be able to get info out of their offices.

[Chucky]

I think it is a great idea and should be mandated as a federal requirement across the board in the U.S. So if I move to Oshkosh I will be able to go right to work without going through learning a different but the same training. It will give S/O s a higher standard and weed out some of the Jethro Bodine's. My present company is in 6 states and could mean lateral moves without the same as above. Agreed the course hours can be a problem but if they will allow you to take a large percentage of the class room stuff on the net it might make it a little more palatable for many with a heavy time obligation. No computer no problem as most libraries have them to use. Hmmm our Miami office would be OK with me.

[N. A. Corbier]

I do not believe that you will see federal licensing.

A good example is the Miami office. You must be licensed in Florida. Florida has decided that online Security School courses are illegal. So, you must be in front of a licensed security instructor at a licensed security school for your entire 40 hour course. Need a gun? Licensed security school, licensed firearm instructor.

A lot of security people go through the course in Florida themselves, paying several hundred dollars, just to work security part time.