About 54,000 people in Macau – employed either by any of the city’s casino operators or by any locally-licensed junket firm – risk being barred from entering a casino when off duty. That is according to a proposed ban on off-duty gaming workers entering the city’s casino floors currently being discussed by the city’s Legislative Assembly.
The figure was provided on Monday by legislator Ho Ion Sang. He chairs a Legislative Assembly sub-committee examining the draft bill covering the matter.
The estimate includes “about 46,000” workers directly hired by the city’s casino operators, and about 8,000 people employed by junket operators, Mr Ho said. The latter figure was provided to the Macau government by the city’s Association of Gaming and Entertainment Promoters, a major local trade association.
Mr Ho said junket-related positions likely to be included in the proposed ban included hosts, cleaning staff and security workers
The government’s initial proposal did not include junket workers in the off-duty casino ban. But legislators pressed local authorities to add junket staff to the proposed list of workers to be barred from visiting the city’s casino floors when off duty.
According to the draft legislation on casino entry ban, some staff that are hired by casino operators and not directly involved in gaming operations – including cage staff, food and beverage outlet workers, cleaners and those connected to surveillance operations – are also included in the ban, alongside gaming workers.
The draft bill envisages Macau casino workers being allowed to gamble in local casinos only on the first three days of the annual Chinese New Year holiday period. Casino workers would also be permitted to step onto gaming floors outside work hours if it were related to “learning” – understood to be a reference to professional training or education – or if “participating in an association’s event”. The meaning of the latter phrase is yet to be clarified.
