Local companies ‘forcing’ staff into unpaid leave

Insider reports claim that several companies in Macau are trying to reduce the number of their operational staff by asking them to take unpaid leave.

Reports from staff at several companies in the gaming and hotel industry, public transportation, and food and beverage sector are claiming that large groups of employees have been invited by their employers to enjoy a period of unpaid leave that ranges from 10 days to three months.

Some are advised to take the leave immediately, while others are directed to take it later in February or in March of this year.

In the most extreme cases, employees were simply informed of their work rescheduling and told not to return to work until a date to be determined later.

Insider sources told the Times that there is no difference in the treatment between resident employees and those holding non-resident work permits (blue cards).

On the topic, the managing director of bus operator Sociedade de Transportes Colectivos de Macau (TCM) has said that some of the company’s drivers are taking annual leave to handle the reduction in bus frequency, TDM Chinese Channel reported.
The Times also learned that in the case of some non-resident workers, at least one large employer in the city has offered to send them to their country of origin where they should stay for a period of up to 90 days, after which they would be returned to Macau.

The measures come after the restrictions imposed this week by the mainland, including a suspension of the Individual Visit Scheme for mainland residents intending to travel to Macau. This has left many of these companies and establishments without clients.

According to sources heard by the Times, the measures were adopted because of a lack of business activity in the SAR.

At today’s daily press conference organized by the government to provide updates on the coronavirus situation, a representative from the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau questioned some of these allegations, specifically in regard to casino operators, some of the biggest employers in the city.

The representative said that the government believes the gaming operators, which operate under public concession agreements, will assume their corporate social responsibility. The official did not state whether the government is following up or investigating the situation.