H
ard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City will provide bonuses for all of its over 2,000 employees, casino officials said Tuesday. The initiative represents more than $1 million.
“We believe that this continued support of our employees, and our belief that this will continue to enhance our respect and appreciation that we’ve provided to them and that they have given back to us, will continue to grow customer service in the property, and more importantly, continue to separate us from the rest of the industry,” Hard Rock International Chairman Jim Allen said, as reported by The Press of Atlantic City.
Allen said Tuesday the company is giving out bonuses in other areas besides Atlantic City and its home base of Florida but would not say where or indicate what percentage of the company’s worldwide workforce is receiving the payments.
The bonuses will be reflected in Friday’s paychecks, Hard Rock Atlantic City President Joe Lupo said. In Atlantic City, the bonuses will be split among 2,184 workers: 1,822 hourly workers will get $250 apiece, 197 supervisors or salaried workers each will get $500, and 165 managers will get $1,000 each.
Hard Rock also gave out bonuses last January totaling $2 million to nearly 2,900 workers in Atlantic City, before the pandemic took hold. Those payments were a reward for helping the company come within 10% of meeting its business targets for the year.
Atlantic City’s casinos were closed for three and a half months, and continue to operate at only 25% of capacity under state-imposed restrictions. Allen said that despite 2020 being a down year for the Hard Rock properties as a result of the pandemic, the Atlantic City casino exceeded goals and projections for the months in which it was open. Its combined table games and slot machine revenue in the fourth quarter of 2020 was up 12.5% to $83.3 million. The other eight Atlantic City casinos were collectively down nearly 30% in this category. “We’re committed to this project on a long-term basis,” Allen said of Atlantic City. “We know Atlantic City still has a great history behind it, and still has a better history in front of it.”
Friday’s bonuses are part of a $90 million relief effort by Hard Rock International and the Seminole Tribe of Florida, according to a news release from the company. There have also been gift card distributions and benefit extensions.
Other casino companies, including four operating in the Chinese enclave of Macao, announced employee bonuses last month: SJM Holdings, MGM China, Wynn Macau and Melco Resorts and Entertainment.
