But theSydney Morning Herald andThe Age has confirmed through multiple company sources that Crown quickly covered most of the cost of these"ex gratia"payments when it signed up to the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme weeks later.
Despite this,the company continued to trumpet the payments as a sign of the company's support for its employees. Chief executive Ken Barton wrote in Crown's annual report,released in September,that Crown had made"an ex gratia payment of two weeks’ pay"to workers,without revealing much of this was covered by JobKeeper.
The JobKeeper subsidy of $1500 per fortnight,which was backdated to March 1,is not likely to have covered the full cost of Crown's payments to permanent staff given most of them earn more than that. Crown paid a lump sum of $1000 to some casual workers,but only"long-term"casual workers are eligible to receive JobKeeper payments.
A Crown spokeswoman declined to comment.
The union representing Crown's gaming floor and hospitality workers,the United Workers Union,raised concerns with management that the pandemic payments was a commitment Crown made to its workforce and should not be subsidised by taxpayers,according to one source who requested anonymity to discuss confidential matters. However Crown stood by its decision.
The group employs about 18,500 people at its Melbourne and Perth casinos and 11,500 of those were stood down from work during the pandemic.