Casino news source: Business Week - http://www.businessweek.com/
Pa. may revise rules on slots jobs
By MARC LEVY
Slot-machine parlors in Pennsylvania are having trouble filling some of their low-wage positions because an unwieldy regulatory process leaves some job applicants waiting weeks before beginning work, two industry executives said.
Testifying at the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board's public meeting, executives from Philadelphia Park Casino and Harrah's Chester Casino & Racetrack said Tuesday that job applicants who live paycheck to paycheck often cannot afford to wait for regulatory clearance.
The executives were asked by board chairman Tad Decker to testify as a means of airing their complaints and kick-starting a process to find ways to correct the problems.
Vince Donlevie, the general manager of Harrah's Chester, which opened its slots parlor Jan. 22, said the establishment has had trouble opening two of its six restaurants and has had to limit its valet parking and casino floor hours.
Despite the board's efforts to streamline the process, "it still has been very challenging," Donlevie told the board.
They also complained that the board application may require computer skills that some applicants don't have or require them to reveal petty crimes in the past that they are not prepared to disclose.
If nothing is changed, "it's going to affect the entire industry, not just these two operators here," Thomas Bonner, a Philadelphia Park Casino attorney, told the board.
Philadelphia Park opened its slots parlor Dec. 19.
Someone who has been offered a non-casino job -- such as restaurant staff, valets or cleaning crew -- at a slots parlor must fill out an application with the board and undergo a criminal background check. A casino worker typically gets a more exhaustive background check.
Donlevie and Bonner suggested that the board could simply register the non-casino workers and let them start work right away. Or, the board could issue temporary licenses to new hires so that they do not have to wait for clearance before they begin working.
After the meeting, Decker said the board wants to streamline the process and continue its efforts to whittle down the size of the application for new hires. That could include lifting the requirement that non-casino workers undergo a criminal background check, he said.
Bonner and Donlevie said their companies would be willing to assume the task of deciding whether the applicant is suitable by testing for drugs, checking criminal backgrounds or testing their customer-service skills. |
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