Question of the Day - 28 March 2020

It certainly is.

Keeping those workers temporarily on the payroll means you’ve got first dibs on their services when you reopen. It also engenders good will among the employees that you, the company, looked after them. If you want to hire and retain first-caliber workers, this is the way to do it. Wynn Resorts CEO Matt Maddox offered a succinct explanation of why casinos keep their employees on retainers, at least for the near term. “I can’t imagine going out to rehire and retrain 13,000 people. I’d rather keep the knowledge and experience that we have now in the service standards.”

It's also true for the relatively long term; as you've read in QoDs of the recent past, Virgin Hotels Las Vegas 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, when the hotel-casino reopens after a nearly year-long transformation from former Hard Rock.

We wrote "interestingly," because in the last two downturns, Big Gaming was less than magnanimous toward its workforce. Many employees were laid off, furloughed, or outright terminated without severance or extension of benefits; many of those were never rehired. Valley Forge was one of the first casinos to be shut down in the very early stages of the virus crisis, so we found Boyd's generosity historically anomalous. 

Since then, of course, the casino industry has stepped up in a big way. Boyd initially announced pay for its 25,000 employees for one (rank and file) or two (management) weeks, but a couple of days ago extended that; full-time and part-time workers will now receive their paychecks through April 10.

When it closed the Venetian and Palazzo, Las Vegas Sands promised to pay all employees for 30 days, plus an indefinite extension of their health benefits. It vowed not to lay off or furlough any workers.

The Wynn is paying its 13,000 employees, including their average tips, while Wynn/Encore are closed; in addition, the company’s top executives are exchanging their salaries (a portion up to all) in exchange for stock; the cash savings will go straight to operational costs.

Similarly expansive was Station Casinos, which was pretty magnanimous, considering that its all-Vegas exposure means that if Sin City’s economy contracts a cold, Station will get pneumonia. Reported the R-J, Station would be “offering regular pay and health benefits to all hourly and salaried full-time team members through April 30 and it has moved several hundred part-time employees to full-time status, so that they can receive full benefits.”

Another casino owner with a feeling for his employees is South Point’s Michael Gaughan. He put all workers on 32-hour-salary status and extended medical benefits for the duration of South Point’s shutdown, which will be at least another nearly three weeks as of this writing.

Over at MGM Resorts International, those who were laid off or furloughed were promised two weeks’ salary and receipt of medical benefits through June 30. In addition, MRI deposited $1 million into its Emergency Relief Fund, whch provides employees and their immediate families with short-term relief in making payments or to meet obligations during unexpected hardships and emergencies.

It's not universal by any means. The Sahara, for one, hasn't paid its laid-off workers, though it's maintaining their health benefits. 

On the donation side, MGM Resorts, Caesars Entertainment, and Wynn Resorts have contributed hundreds of tons of perishables to food banks around the country, plus essential supplies and financial aid to first responders and medical facilities.

The casino industry, which is taking a huge hit from the pandemic, has stepped into the economic breach to give its employees and local charities some relief. That's extremely admirable and we'll be "interested" to see what happens to the workforce when the worst of the crisis has passed.