- Staff members filed for unemployment in early 2020 after the pandemic shut down all coast casinos.
- Employees have now received letters from the state saying that a portion of benefits must be paid back due to fraudulent behavior.
- Employees claim they used the information available to them at the time to file, which excluded tips.
Employees working at casinos across the southern portion of Mississippi recently received a letter stating they must repay a portion of their unemployment benefits provided by the state. Employees filed for compensation while the coat casinos were shut down when the COVID-19 pandemic first started in March 2020.
According to Sun Herald, Treasure Bay Casino pit boss BJ Smith was one such individual who received a letter from the state. When he received the letter, it was on the same day as the deadline to appeal. This gave him little time to contact the state and try to plead his case.
It is unclear just how many employees received the letter, but according to Smith, he saw 40 to 50 letters stacked in the human resources department of the casino when he was trying to figure out what to do.
The letters were sent by the state Department of Employment Security. The agency says in the letter that the employee violated state law by not property reporting gross earnings from the casino. For Smith, it shows he was overpaid by $1,000 after a penalty was added to the overall total.
A penalty of 20% is added to any overpayment when it is determined that the extra was provided due to fraudulent behavior. For Smith, he says the behavior was not fraudulent as the employees used what information they had at the time, their base pay. The information did not include tips as they did not have the pay stubs for tips at the time of filing.
A Confusing Process Leading to Issues Among Tipped Employees
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, all casino employees were out of work for a few weeks if not a few months. The hospitality and entertainment industry was completely shut down starting in March 2020, so employees had to file unemployment just to stay afloat.
For many, this was their first time filing, so they had not idea how to complete an already complicated process. At Treasure Bay, general manager Susan Varnes pointed out that the issue at her casino involves the timing of reported base wages and tip outs.
Employees would need to report their earnings every Sunday night to be paid for the week. Most would report base wages because they did not know the tip wages for the next week. People who receive tips that are audited each week will not know the total until later on.
Varnes feels that if errors were made, then the Employment agency needs to allow the individuals to pay back the amount overpaid without penalty. The casino is happy to work with the agency in order for the matter to be better understood and eliminate the penalties and the accusations of fraud.
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