Coronavirus: SkyCity warns of redundancies and asks staff to take annual leave during lockdown

Friday, 27 March 2020

A New Zealander who's tested positive for Covid-19 says her only symptom is a loss of taste and smell.

SkyCity has warned of redundancies and asked staff to take annual leave during the four-week lockdown.

The entertainment group has closed its Auckland, Hamilton and Queenstown sites, which are deemed non-essential services. It was also forced to closed its Adelaide operation following a similar mandate by the Australian Government.

On Thursday, in a letter to staff, chief executive Graeme Stephens said redundancies were inevitable because of the impact of the coronavirus on its business. SkyCity employs 4000 staff.

'Unfortunately, it seems inevitable that there will be some redundancies required given the probability of prolonged closures and economies that will be damaged for years to come,' he said.

Stephens also asked staff to take annual leave effective immediately and those who did not have enough, to take up to five days in advance leave.

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Graeme Stephens, SkyCity chief executive, Stephens also told staff to find 'some benefit from not being at work'.

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Staff were told those who were made redundant would be credited back their annual leave from March 26 onward.

Roles that were 'critical' to ongoing business operations would continue to operate remotely during the lockdown and were exempt from having to take annual leave.

SkyCity has been approached for comment.

An employee who did not want to be named said the company's actions were 'so wrong'.

'The company made millions last year and this how we get treated.'

Another current employee, who Stuff agreed not to name, said she felt helpless and was concerned about covering rent and food costs during the lockdown.

SkyCity has had to close its four operations across NZ and Australia, as governments of both countries put trading restrictions to control Covid-19.

'I do understand all operations are closed and there is no business at all, but I was expecting SkyCity to take care of their employees in these testing times with giving them at least basic pay to cover basic expenses,' she said.

'We cannot even get government subsidy so no income at all, but rent has not stopped so expenses are on.'

On Thursday, in a letter to staff chief executive Graeme Stephens said redundancies were inevitable because of the impact of the coronavirus on its business.

Employment lawyer Susan Hornsby-Geluk said employers were required to try to reach agreement with employees as to when annual leave was taken and if agreement would not be reached, employers could give 14 days' notice of the requirement to take leave.

SkyCity said the letter was to be treated as two weeks' notice for compulsory annual leave for staff.

'If you do not agree to take annual leave and are not approved as an exception, you are advised to treat this letter as notice that you are required to take all entitled annual leave beginning April 10,' the letter said.

Unite Union representative John Crocker said it was unclear whether staff who refused to take annual leave would be paid until April 10 or not.

Crocker said SkyCity had indicated it would take up the Government's wage subsidy scheme, which required employers to do the best they could to retain staff. That was why it was paying waged employees 80 per cent of their wages, and the forced annual leave only applied to salaried staff.

A major fire at SkyCity's New Zealand international convention centre last year has delayed its opening, affecting many bookings, but it was insured.

Have you been affected? Get in touch, newstips@stuff.co.nz.

Stephens also told staff to find 'some benefit from not being at work'.

'There is only so much you can worry about and almost nothing you can do about it. I find that dealing with uncertainty is generally harder than dealing with a known challenge and we will do what we can to provide updates and information as fast as we can.'

On March 18, SkyCity said it was expecting a $55 million hit to its full year result as a result of the coronavirus.

The casino operator told the NZX its profits would now be between $230m and $250m with a net profit of $85m to $100m, on a normalised basis.

However, the company stressed the guidance could change and 'assumes that all SkyCity properties remain open for business'.

On Monday SkyCity withdrew its earning guidance for the 2020 financial year for its Adelaide operation.

Shares in SkyCity have fallen from $3.80 at the market's peak on February 21 to $1.74 on Friday at noon.

Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner Saunoamaali'i Karanina Sumeo said concerns were being raised by unions that some employers were not passing on the wage subsidy, or were compelling staff to use sick or annual leave as cover during the isolation period.

'I'm encouraging business owners to talk openly with their staff before making decisions affecting their jobs. I urge bosses to face up to the inevitable emotional conversations, continue to exercise transparency and do the right thing. Get support from other business owners who are facing the same dilemmas.'

On Friday Finance Minister Grant Robertson said $2.7 billion had been paid out through the wage subsidy scheme, to more than 400,000 workers.

He said nothing had changed employers' obligations.

Almost everyone using the wage subsidy scheme was doing so correctly but there were a few abusing it, the finance minister said.

The Government will be releasing the names of companies that had received the subsidy publicly to keep transparency.