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What is going to happen to all of the employees of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino when they close for 8 months to be refurbished into Virgin?
Hard Rock/Virgin is working hard to retain as many of its nearly 2,000 employees as it can while their paychecks aren't coming in during the eight-month shutdown for the transition to the new property.
Management has implemented what it calls a "Stick Around and Come Back" lump-sum retention bonus of up to 10 weeks for all employees -- gaming, non-gaming, union, non-union -- who return to their jobs, which will be held open for them.
The unions approve. For Culinary, Operating Engineers, and Teamster workers, it will be official: They'll "have the right to be recalled to their jobs when the property reopens without having to reapply for their positions," according to a group statement issued by the unions.
It's a good deal all around, we think. In a tight labor market, Virgin has an experienced staff when it reopens and the laid-off employees can return to their old jobs with a little extra cash incentive, after presumably working elsewhere or collecting unemployment for the eight-month closure.