While an increase in salary may sound like music to everyone’s ears, it’s apparently not the case in some instances.

And it definitely hasn’t been the case for the workers at the Resort World Sentosa (RWS)’s Casino.

Increase in Salary Due to Employees Leaving, But Some Workers Aren’t Satisfied

According to reports by Shin Min Daily News, members of the private “Hoya永恒吹水组” group on Facebook have been discussing the recent rise in pay for RWS Casino staff that occurred after the company saw that a number of employees were resigning.

Even though a pay raise sounds good, the staff realised that RWS offered a raise of $300 to $400 to newer workers at the start of the month in order to keep them from leaving their jobs.

On the other hand, RWS only offered a $10 raise or less to the more experienced workers, enraging many of the more experienced workers.

In response to this unfair treatment, many employees at the RWS Casino have been obtaining Medical Certificates (MCs) to protest against the management’s actions.

Employees’ Reactions: Taking MCs as an Act of Defiance, Another Casino Trying to Poach Workers

Shin Min spoke to Ms Feng, a female senior dealer who has been working at the RWS Casino for over nine years.

Ms Feng, 34, revealed that her monthly salary is $2690, and that she was notified of a mere $10 increase in salary when she received her payslip on 3 June this year.

Shocked by the minuscule increase, she decided to take three days’ worth of MC instead to express her anger towards the company.

She also told Shin Min that her newer colleagues that have been working at the RWS Casino for around half a year or even less than a month have received around a $300 to $400 increase in their salaries, allowing their salaries to amount to $2,200 every month.

Ms Feng speculates that another casino in Singapore has been poaching staff as of late, and said that quite a number of her newer colleagues have resigned and switched workplaces.

She also believes that RWS offered such high pay raises to the newer employees to try and get them to stay instead of joining the other casino.

Annual Pay Raise Scheme Was Not Implemented Last Year

Ms Lin, another senior dealer at the RWS Casino also added that employees get a pay raise of around $100 every year after their yearly evaluation.

However, the employees’ salaries have not increased over the past year due to the pandemic. The employees did not receive the additional $300 in subsidies either.

Similarly, Ms Lin also received a pay raise of only $10, which led her to take two days of MC to express her dissatisfaction.

The 38-year-old commented that the employees who have been with RWS for more than nine years either received a raise of $10 or no raise at all.

On the other hand, those who have only been with the company for four to five years received salary raises of $300 to $400, increasing their overall salary by 20-25% to $2400 to $2500.

RWS’ Response: Dealers’ Salaries Increased by 12% on Average

When responding to Shin Min‘s enquiries, an RWS spokesperson explained that with the increase in local staycations due to the COVID-19, along with the preparation for higher rates of tourism in the near future, RWS has been trying to hire more manpower as of late.

This includes staff to help manage the operations of the attractions, food and beverage service staff, hotel staff and casino employees.

The spokesperson pointed out that RWS has begun to re-evaluate its salary rates to try and keep up with the market rates so that they are able to attract and keep employees.

Casino Also Reviewed Salary Structure and Gives out Monthly Subsidies, Will be Giving “Thank You Bonus” as Well

In the case of the Casino, RWS took factors such as industry competitiveness, employees’ work experience and ability into consideration when reviewing the salary structures of its dealers.

Apart from the adjustment in salaries, the Casino has also given out relevant allowances and subsidies meant for skills training on a monthly basis.

This is to encourage employees to develop their skillsets and plan for their careers more effectively.

It was then revealed that on average, the RWS Casino’s dealers increased by 12% through these schemes.

The spokesperson also brought up how RWS will be issuing a “Thank You Bonus” to all employees who meet certain criteria as a way of thanking them for their efforts throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

After that, the spokesperson concluded by emphasising that the RWS team members are the company’s most valuable assets and that they should be rewarded for their excellence and contributions to RWS.

Upset Employee Started Online Petition, Over 300 Have Signed

But it seems like it’s not just the casino dealers who haven’t gotten a decent (or no) increase in pay.

According to Ms Lin, her colleague, who is an experienced worker, took to the Internet to start a petition on 4 June.

The colleague claimed that they have over ten years of work experience with the RWS Casino, but was not given a pay raise like other newer employees.

Up to yesterday (8 June) morning, 306 people have signed the petition.

Supervisor Roles See No Increase in Salary as Well

Ms Lin’s husband, surnamed Liang, is a supervisor at RWS Casino as well, and he has worked there for 12 years.

Just like the colleague who started the petition, Mr Liang did not get a pay raise as well. He has since signed the petition to express his support for the cause.

He mentioned that he is upset and disappointed at the company, especially seeing how newly-promoted supervisors already have a base salary of $3,100 yet he only receives $3,200 a month despite working for RWS for over a decade.

Large Increase in Number of Employees Taking MC, Casino Desperate for Workers to Help Out

With many experienced workers taking MCs out of spite, RWS has apparently been trying to source help to help tide over the manpower shortage for now.

A lady named Ms Xu, who works in RWS as well, told Shin Min that many employees at the RWS Casino have started taking MCs from 3 June onwards.

The RWS Casino has five shifts a day, with every shift lasting eight hours. According to her, around ten to 20 employees per shift have taken leave of some form even up till now.

Based on RWS’ daily duty sheet, Ms Xu also shared that RWS urgently needed 15 employees to help cover the night shift on 3 June due to a lack of manpower.

Ms Feng also revealed that there are still many employees taking MCs.

She also mentioned that there were 22 dealers and three directors who were asked to take over the night shift on 7 June at the last minute.

Netizens’ Reactions

After Shin Min shared the story on their Facebook page, many Facebook users criticised the RWS Casino management and Human Resources (HR) department.

One even said that it was a “tactic” since whichever employee who chooses to speak up will be “targetted” next.

Some even publicly encouraged the employees to quit their jobs and seek employment elsewhere such as at the Casino located in Marina Bay Sands, or even start their own business.

However, some netizens speculated that this was a method used to try and “get rid” of the older workers.

In turn, this will increase the number of newer, younger workers, benefitting the company as their base salary is usually lower than that of experienced workers.

In addition to that, a commenter also pointed out that older employees may be more “rigid” in their ways, while the younger ones may be more willing to adapt and learn due to their lack of skills in this particular industry.

According to that commenter, their younger age will also help the Casino “create a better image”.

Featured Image: Tang Yan Song / Shutterstock.com