Casino Royale, located on the Las Vegas strip and owned by hotel chain Best Western, is to lay off 98 employees because of the impact of novel coronavirus (Covid-19) on the property.
Of the 98 employees, 49 will be dealers, while other affected jobs in gaming include a pit manager, slot hosts, other slot employees, cashiers and surveillance employees.
While employers are typically required to provide 60 days of advanced notice for mass layoffs under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN), the casino said this was not possible due to the “unexpected and unprecedented” impact of Covid-19. Instead, it only provided disclosure of the layoffs on 10 August, when the process started.
The casino added that the “unforeseeable business circumstances” caused by the pandemic necessitated the layoffs.
“Bumping rights”, which would allow certain employees – such as those in unions – to avoid layoffs, are not available.
Elsewhere, Wynn Las Vegas will lay off 252 employees as it closes its performance of “Le Reve – The Dream”. A further 52 members of staff will be laid off as restaurant chain Hakkasan temporarily closes its Searsucker Las Vegas Restaurant location at Caesars Palace. Both closures are also due to the impact of Covid-19 and are effective immediately.
The Covid-19 pandemic has causes many other operators in Nevada to announce mass layoffs, including MGM Resorts, Caesars and Penn National Gaming, which announced 58 further layoffs at its M Resort last week, bringing the total number of redundancies at the venue to 410.