Employed by the hotel I had left (5)
I believe the answer is:
hired
'employed' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'hotel i had left' is the wordplay.
'hotel' becomes 'h' (phonetic alphabet).
'had' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'left' becomes 'red' (red can informally mean communist).
'h'+'i'+'red'='HIRED'
'by the' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for hired that I've seen before include "Chartered" , "Engaged for wages" , "Taken into service" , "Paid to work" , "Taken on to staff" .)