Las Vegas Strip casinos notify staff of furloughs, layoffs

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    LAS VEGAS, NV (KVVU) — Multiple Las Vegas Strip casinos notified staff of furloughs and possible permanent layoffs after the COVID-19 pandemic had a massive impact on the casino industry.

WYNN RESORTS
Wynn Resorts has notified some staff members that they have been placed on furlough.

A spokesperson for the company provided the below statement on the furloughs:

“Although we retained all of our people while we were closed, we now know how challenged business volumes in Las Vegas are and are staffing to the significantly reduced demand.”

The company had paid all salaried, hourly and part-time employees through May 31, for a total of 75 days of payroll continuance, amid the COVID-19 shutdown.

According to a news release from Wynn Resorts in May, more than 15,000 current Wynn and Encore employees received payroll coverage, which included the average tip compliance rate or distributed tips/tokes for tipped employees.

In total, the release said, Wynn Resorts was investing close to $250 million in payroll expense during the closure.

FOX5 also learned that some staff had also recently faced pay cuts. According to information provided to FOX5 that was confirmed by Wynn Resorts, the pay reduction ranged from 5% to 20% based on the staff member’s salary. Salaries under $75,000 started at 5% reduction.

A number of how many employees were impacted by the furloughs was not immediately provided by the company.

The company said the furloughed employees will continue to receive health benefits through Oct. 31.

CIRCUS CIRCUS

Circus Circus said they decided to lay off some employees due to decreased business since the pandemic. According to a letter sent to the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, 252 employees will be permanently terminated, effective Sept. 1.

Impacted positions include guest room attendants, table game dealers and retail sales associates, the letter said.

A statement from Circus Circus read:

“Circus Circus Las Vegas has had to assess and make business decisions in order to effectively operate during these uncertain times. We hope that business volumes will recuperate sufficiently so that most of our employees can get back to work in the near future.”

TROPICANA

Despite Tropicana opening on Sept. 1, some employees will be laid off before the doors reopen.

Penn National Gaming, which owns Tropicana, said in a statement that the company furloughed 26,000 total employees in March. While “a number” are expected to return for reopening, some of those furloughs are expected to become permanent layoffs.

Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Government Relations Eric Schippers said in a statement:

“Based on the sudden and unforeseeable events in March, we were forced to furlough 26,000 of our team members in April. At the time, we were hopeful that we’d be able to call the employees back within a couple of months. However, while we have been able to reopen most of our properties on a limited basis, the continued social distancing requirements and uncertain business volumes means our properties will not be able to resume normal operations for the foreseeable future.

After thoroughly reevaluating our business in light of the ongoing pandemic, we wanted to communicate honestly and openly with our team members that it could be some time before all of our remaining properties are open, and that those properties that are open will unfortunately not require the same level of staffing due to limitations and restrictions placed on occupancy and offerings to create a safer environment. As a result, we informed our team members that their furloughs may be converted to a permanent layoff in the coming weeks or months. We had a legal obligation to send a formal WARN notice to all the team members who could potentially be laid off. To be clear, however, that does not necessarily mean that all those team members will be laid off.

In the meantime, we also wanted to let the furloughed team members know that we’ll be extending their Medical and Pharmacy benefits coverage through July 31. In addition, our COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund, in which we’ve raised $1.7 million through private donations from our senior executives, Board of Directors, and our Foundation, is also available to help our Team Members with any emergency funding needs. To date more than $700,000 has already been approved and processed for distribution to our team members in need.

These are extremely challenging times both on a personal and a professional level, but the steps we have taken to this point, and plan to take going forward, are all aimed at positioning our Company and the majority of our team members to be able to weather this storm and come out stronger on the other side.”

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