Effective January 1, 2023, the Code of Virginia (§ 35.1-15.1.) and the Sanitary Regulations for Hotels (12VAC5-431-490) requires all hotel proprietors and their employees to complete training on how to recognize and report instances of suspected human trafficking. The law requires that every hotel proprietor require its employees to complete the human trafficking training within six months of being employed by a hotel and thereafter at least once every two
years, for as long as the employee is employed by the hotel.
Human Trafficking Awareness for Hotels is a free online course provided by the Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) to hotel proprietors and their employees and is available
through a new online learning management system (LMS), Benchmark Analytics.
To create a training account, please visit https://training.benchmarkonline.app/dcjs and click on “Log In” on the left. Then click “Create an account” and enter the required information. You
must use your individual work email address. If you do not have your own professional email address, a personal email address may be used.
Click here to view a step-by-step guide to log in for the first time. For technical assistance or a brief overview of Benchmark LMS functionality, please refer to this user guide. Review the User Guide to register an account and access your transcript. For technical issues, contact Blane Sawyer at blane.sawyer@dcjs.virginia.gov.
This course must be taken by individual employees and not presented in a group setting. Courses can be accessed on desktop computers, smartphones, or tablets.
Other training courses are available as approved by DCJS. More information regarding human trafficking and the training requirements and allowance can be found on the DCJS website:
https://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/human-trafficking/human-trafficking-training-requirements-hotels. The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) will begin enforcing these requirements starting
in July 2023.
The Chesterfield Health District (CHD) is providing the following informational handout that summarizes Frequently Asked Questions regarding the Human Trafficking Training
requirements to all VDH permitted overnight lodging facilities. This handout and additional information is also available on the VDH Tourist Lodging website.
For specific questions regarding your facility, please contact CHD (804)-748-1691.