The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas is covering all bases, a letter to the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation from June 30 shows. The Las Vegas Strip resort informs the state department that layoffs and furloughs that started in March and April may last more than the initially thought 6 months and even become permanent, placing doubt on the employment of more than 3,100 workers.
The news of the correspondence fueled rumors the company was gearing towards more layoffs, prompting The Cosmopolitan to deny any intentions to further cut its workforce.
“Adhering to the legal requirements of the WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) Act, the letter in reference is merely an administrative notice to the state should a business be forced to make staffing adjustments.”
Official statement, The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas
In the emailed statement the company’s official further elaborated that due to the uncertainty stemming from the sudden and unpredictable changes of the ongoing health situation, many employers in the state have elected to formally fulfill their legal obligation by submitting this notice. Moreover, The Cosmopolitan has no intent to reduce staff at the resort and the filing is not a means of communicating changes in staffing, the statement continued.
“We are proud that we have returned more than 80 percent of our workforce since reopening, and we look forward to bringing more employees back to work in the near future as we see business demands increase.”
Official statement, The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas
The federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires employers to ensure employees have notice before any significant layoffs, to provide them with enough time to find work elsewhere, and it seems The Cosmopolitan is making sure it complies with the act. It does not mean that there will be more layoffs, but does not mean that there will not be either.
Sending notices to employees started almost immediately after St.Gov. Steve Sisolak ordered casinos and other non-essential businesses to halt operations in March, and continued through April, May and June, even after Gov. Sisolak allowed casinos to re-open June 4. July 10, though, only 5 weeks after letting businesses resume operations, the governor ordered bars that do not offer food to return to Phase 1 and close again, as the new cases of the virus infection in Nevada spiked.
Current developments showed once again the situation is dynamic and unpredictable and despite employers claiming that WARN notices have been formally submitted, they could easily turn into layoffs and make the total number of affected casino workforce since the outbreak of the virus to 85,000.
