MGM Springfield has once again fallen foul of Massachusetts regulations, with a $6.83m settlement reached with the Attorney General’s office after violating employment laws.
The range of breaches, identified following a multi-year investigation, affected over 2,000 employees, and concerned wage and hour infringements.
In October 2018, the AG’s office noted that its Fair Labor Division began receiving complaints from employees of the gaming venue regarding a number of violations.
These included managers illegally participating in wait staff tip-pooling, underpaying service-rate employees for overtime hours, and the company requiring security guards to work through meal breaks without compensation.
“MGM Springfield’s failure to provide its employees, especially service workers earning an hourly wage and relying on tips, with their full wages and benefits made it more difficult for these employees to take care of themselves and their families,” said AG Andrea Campbell. “My office will continue to hold accountable those who violate our wage and hour laws.”
Following an inquiry, it is noted that the full range of wage and hour violations by MGM Springfield includes failures to pay minimum wage to tipped employees, as well as overtime wages.
In addition, unlawful tip retention by management was discovered, alongside failures to make timely payments of wages and to provide paid earned sick time.
The affected employees, which number 2,036, were mostly service employees earning hourly wages. This comprises table game dealers, banquet servers, bartenders, ushers, kitchen staff, casino floor and hotel staff, warehouse personnel, cleaners, and security guards.
In addition to the financial settlement, MGM will implement a compliance program, which must be undertaken by an independent reviewer and be approved by the AGO.
The program will include regular training of relevant staff on wage and hour compliance, and two annual wage and hour audits to be conducted by a third party. The third party auditor will also submit audit findings to AGO for review.
In May, MGM Springfield was handed a $45,000 fine by the Investigations and Enforcement Bureau of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission for underage gambling violations.
According to MassLive, between June 2022 and December 2022, multiple incidents occurred at the facility where people under the age of 21 years old had gaming floor access.
