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100 Dealers file complaints over
Wynn Resorts' tip policy
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sep. 12, 2006
About 100 dealers filed complaints with the state labor
commissioner on Monday over a new pay plan at Wynn Resorts
Ltd. that began to split their tips with their
supervisors.
Wynn Las Vegas President Andrew Pascal said late Monday
the company feels comfortable with the research it did
into the legality of the new payment arrangement and with
the improvements it promises for both staffing and
customer service,
"We're going to stick with it. We're going to make sure
everyone understands it and we feel confident they'll
recognize the most constructive thing to do is to continue
to serve the players," he said.
"This is not something we did impulsively. We felt it was
time to make a change," Pascal said. All of the claims
were filed anonymously and none of the complainants
claimed to have lost income because of the new policy,
said Amanda Penn, spokeswoman for the State Department of
Business and Industry, which oversees the commissioner's
office.
A
widening disparity between the wages earned by dealers and
casino floor supervisors caused Wynn Las Vegas to change
the structure of its table games division so that pit
bosses and floor supervisors will be known as "casino
service team leaders" and their responsibilities will
include customer service.
Wynn dealers average about $100,000 per year in salary and
tip earnings making them the highest-paid in Las Vegas.
Their supervisors average about $60,000 a year in salary.
Pascal said that because Wynn Las Vegas dealers are the
highest-paid dealers in the city, there has been no
incentive for advancement and few applicants for
supervisory positions. Under the new program, the team
leaders will share in the tip pool, diluting it by about
15 percent, Pascal said.
The restructuring will have dealers earning an average of
$90.000 a year initially while supervisors will be paid
$95,000. The new plan is being phased in over several
weeks. Pascal said it is important to remember that while
some workers may make less in the short run, in the long
run, everyone will make more as customer service improves
and more customers play in the casino.
One Wynn Las Vegas dealer, who refused to be identified,
told KLAS-TV, Channel 8, on Monday that the new policy
meant money out of his pocket. "At $6.15 an hour, I need
those tips to survive," the dealer said. "That pays my
mortgage, buys my food, puts diapers on my kid, makes the
car payment. Everything is tips. Everything."
Two officials from the Office of the Labor Commissioner
went to speak with Wynn Resorts staff last week on a
fact-finding mission, Penn said.
Their findings and the stack of complaints will be
reviewed soon by Nevada Labor Commissioner Michael
Tanchek, she said.
Gaming Wire writer Rod Smith contributed to
this report.
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