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Unemployment compensation is going to be very important for casino workers who are furloughed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The amount they receive will be calculated using wage information provided by their employers. How do casinos calculate the wages of employees who normally receive tips as a large portion of their income? Do casinos report the hourly rate plus an expected average compensation from tips, or do they only report the hourly wage?
Deanna Pettit-Irestone, executive director for public relations at Wynn Resorts, says, “It is the hourly rate plus for tipped employees. It includes the average tip-compliance rate or distributed tips/tokes since the beginning of the year.”
Adds Rosa Mendez, public information officer for the Nevada Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation, “Tips are a part of covered wages, which employers are required to report, and if reported as required, will be included in employee's [unemployment insurance] benefit calculations.”