Wynn Macau Problems”Special Bonus” to Employees; Galaxy Ent urged to pony up

Macau casino operator, Wynn Macau Ltd (1128:Hong Kong), announced recently that the lions share of its staff will be receiving a special bonus commensurate with one month’s gross salary.

According to the official press release (pdf) from the operator on Frida,y July 13, all eligible Wynn Palace and Wynn Macau team members, apart from senior management, representing some 95% of what is the current 13,200 workforce will be issued the special bonus.

Wynn Macau communicated in the release that the special bonus follows a general salary increase that was announced by the company in February 2018. And that it is [special bonus] being awarded to demonstrate the company’s “appreciation for strong business results and team members’ hard work and dedication.”

GGRAsia reports that the gratuity will be payable on August 15, but that the casino operator failed to disclose whether the payment was similar to prior multi-year schemes between 2014 and 2017 inclusive or if it was a one-off.

On the heels of the operator’s Friday announcement, a Macau labor group reportedly communicated to the news outlet that it would be organizing a petition among workers at Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd (SEHK: 00027) urging the company to issue employees a “summer bonus.”

According to the news agency, Cloee Chao of Professional for Gaming of New Macau communicated that the labor group was pushing for the bonus to be equal to a “14th-month” salary. Chao reportedly also told GGRAsia that “concerns” regarding no additional bonus in 2018, expressed by gaming workers to the labor group were the catalyst for the petition.

The first letter to Galaxy Entertainment urging the summer bonus was delivered to the firm’s HR department on Tuesday, with further rounds of petitioning planned for Wednesday and Friday at the company’s Galaxy Macau Casino on Cotai and in downtown Macau at its StarWorld hotel, respectively.

A so-called discretionary bonus was paid by Galaxy Entertainment to its eligible employees in February that was the equivalent of one month’s salary. During the same month, the company also announced a salary increase, effective from the 1^st of April this year, for its eligible employees.

January’s end also saw employees of Macau casino operator MGM China Holdings Limited (HKEx: 2282) stage demonstrations on two days in protest of the firm’s refusal to grant its non-management staff a bonus payment equal to two month’s salary.

In February, the operator announced that it would be issuing all eligible non-management team members a two-installment discretionary bonus as well as a “special bonus” the equivalent to a 14th-month salary.