MGM Springfield, has consented to a payment of $6.8 million towards the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AGO) in resolutions of recently unveiled infringements. Investigations reveal that the casino resort has been in consistent breach of the state’s wage and hour laws for extended periods.
Discovery by the AGO revealed that MGM Springfield neglected to pay minimum wage to its employees who received tips. The resort also defaulted on the payment of overtime wages, while inappropriately retaining tips. Other violations included delayed payments of workers’ wages and failure to address issues related to sick pay.
The initial wave of complaints reached the AGO’s Fair Labor Division in October 2018, just a couple of months post the opening of MGM Springfield. Accusations by employees included instances of managers pooling tips, underpayment of wages, and forced labor during designated meal breaks.
The total number of employees affected by these violations was 2,036, predominantly consisting of service employees receiving hourly wages.
Implementation of Compliance Program by MGM Springfield
As a condition of the aforementioned $6.8 million settlement, MGM Springfield has been mandated to establish a compliance program to circumvent future transgressions of a similar nature. To fortify this arrangement, the AGO will appoint a compliance reviewer entrusted with ensuring the MGM property adheres to the set program.
The agenda of the program will involve training the MGM staff regarding wage and hour compliance. Independent third-party entities will perform bi-annual audits and submit their findings to the AGO.
Andrea Campbell, the Massachusetts Attorney General, sharply criticized MGM Springfield for failing to meet their legal obligations and for not treating their employees justly.
Ignoring the obligation to provide employees, particularly those earning an hourly wage and relying on tips, with full wages and benefits, MGM Springfield has made it harder for their staff to support themselves and their families.
Andrea Campbell, Massachusetts Attorney General
Campbell stressed the significance of shielding employees from such treatment and holding the erring employers liable.
Recent events have not been kind to MGM Springfield – apart from the wage and hour issues, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission assigned a $45,000 civil administrative penalty to the establishment over incidents of underage gambling in May this year. However, MGM Springfield’s self-reported admittance of many of these transgressions and subsequent cooperation with investigators denotes a slight positive in this situation.
