Casino human-resources executives and consultants noted Tuesday good compliance among customers with mask mandates and not a lot of confrontations with staff. In addition, any problems with employees failing to comply are happening “back of house” and not while they’re working with customers.
The executives also expressed concerns over the safety message any lack of mask usage sends to patrons and potential hires in the future.
Employees have been required to wear masks since Nevada casinos reopened on June 4. Mask have been mandatory for patrons since the state issued a directive on June 26.
A report from Nevada OSHA said there was an 80 percent compliance rate on casino floors, while half that at resort pools.
“We’ve not had a lot of situations were guests have outright refused to comply with standards, and I think what we see is most guests are aware of the expectations,” said Chris Smith, vice president of Human Resources at Boyd Gaming, speaking Tuesday at the ICE North America’s weeklong virtual conference on the gaming industry’s road back. “It’s been helpful not to have to communicate that, because other businesses are doing it, not just casinos. That has helped, because people are acclimated from being coached in other places.”
Smith said a “softer approach” with customers who aren’t wearing masks or social distancing has worked, and many times it’s just patrons having fun and forgetting, then simply needing a reminder to which they’re mostly receptive. In most cases, however, the need for a mask is “headed off” at the front door when customers are greeted by security, he said.
Meanwhile, the issue of Strip employees wearing a mask surfaced over the holiday weekend when a Caesars Entertainment memo posted on social media revealed that any failure by an employee to wear a mask was grounds for termination. Las Vegas Sands later released a statement to the media that employees could be disciplined for not wearing a mask, including termination. MGM Resorts warned of progressive discipline.
Casino consultant Rick Fields, a former senior vice president of casino operations at Mandalay Bay, said he’s hearing on the Strip that “back of the house is where they’re having issues.” He said in this environment, however, it’s important guests trust their safety when they’re coming to stay and gamble in a hotel-casino.
As for Boyd employees, Smith said two to three weeks into training, some people start to tune out a message and develop poor habits about wearing masks and social distancing.
“It’s easy to get lazy on how you’re wearing your face covering, especially when you go from front of the house to back of the house,” Smith said. “That’s where we’re seeing most of our challenges. We’re on point in front of the house, but once you get to the back, team members are letting down their guard. We can’t let our guard down. The moment we do, we invite potential risk into our properties.”
Smith said they will “coach and coach” to ensure compliance, but if a “team member is not going to wear their mask correctly or social distance, we may resort to progressive discipline, just like any other standard that we employ. From a compliance perspective, it carries exactly the same weight, so that’s the way we look at it.”
David Carroll, senior vice president of Human Resources with Seminole Hard Rock Support Services, said the vast majority of people are trying to do the right thing, but “some folks don’t get it, so we do what we have to do. Fortunately, there hasn’t been much of that. It is mostly friendly reminders. A lot of times, it’s peer pressure that helps a lot too.”
Carroll said team members want to make sure guests keep their masks on as well for their own protection.
Smith said it’s important for properties to send a message that they’re safe, not only for customers, but also potential employees. He said he expects it to be a challenge to hire staff in the future unless people are convinced it’s a safe place to work.
“They may see hotels and food and beverage businesses closing and not want to work there,” Smith said. “Down the road, there could be a hiring crunch that takes place in our business. Although unemployment is high, I think hiring will be a challenge.”
In response to a question, Smith said few employees resigned when casinos reopened, and Boyd tried to accommodate those who had concerns by offering other positions.
What has changed with hiring is that security has taken on a much more prominent role at properties, due to temperature screenings at entrances and the need to ask guests questions about COVID-19 symptoms as they come into properties, Smith said. They’re doing the same screening for team members, he added. Boyd has 29 properties in 13 states.
“The demand for security officers is going through the roof,” Smith said. “As businesses have been forced to scale back, we’re still hiring in many areas, because the requirements in many of our states are much higher than they once were. After this unemployment ends, hopefully, we will get more of those candidates looking for those kinds of positions.”
