Seminole Hard Rock to Keep 1,527 Employees on Furlough

Hard Rock Seminole extended the furlough status of 1,527 of its employees. The operator is trying to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 by helping the affected employees in times of uncertainty.

A Furlough Extension for 1,527 Employees

Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida has announced that 1,527 employees currently furloughed will receive furlough extension. This is a direct impact of the COVID-19 pandemic spread in the state which led to the thousands of furloughs. Similar to other entertainment businesses, the massive complex was temporarily closed back in mid-March due to the pandemic. After a couple of months of shut doors, most of the venues reopened on June 12. Like any other business operating in the COVID-19 environment, Seminole Hard Rock had to implement strict health and safety measures aiming at reducing the spread of COVID-19.

According to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filed on August 31 with the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, unless the 1,527 employees who received furlough extension are called to work until December 31, they may be permanently laid off. But according to the company, the filing “represents a worst-case scenario to meet the government’s requirement for advance notice“. In light that the business continues to improve, Hard Rock Seminole said that it hopes to rehire a big part of the affected employees. “A majority of the team members at the complex are already back at work,” added the company.

Hard Rock Seminole’s Efforts to Help the Affected Employees

The 1,527 Hard Rock Seminole affected employees took various positions such as table game dealers, poker dealers, banquet servers, greeters, bartenders, and more. Here, we cannot miss mentioning that a big part of those employees worked at the live concert Hard Rock venue which is still closed for the moment. To mitigate the impact on its employees, the company paid them for the first two weeks upon the initial closure of the complex on March 20. 

Furthermore, Hard Rock Seminole let the workers take their paid leaves and added additional paid time off. The company also outlined that the affected employees will continue to receive health benefits through the end of September. Employees with wages less than $50,000 per annum received multiple grocery store gift cards. With that in mind, local economic experts deemed Hard Rock Seminole’s decision to extend furloughs as a positive factor.

Elsewhere in the U.S. the COVID-19 impact pushed MGM Resorts into laying of 18,000 previously furloughed employees. And while businesses across the U.S. are still trying to recover, the country is still at the top of the chart with most positive COVID-19 cases totaling 6,4 million people. The second and third place with most positive COVID-19 cases are taken by India and Brazil with 4,3 million and 4,1 million respectively.