We appreciate your support and patience through this crisis. Please see below some key announcements and updates we have discussed over the last few days.
Announcements:
- Unemployment Claims: We are encouraging all Knights who are not currently working to apply for unemployment insurance through Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) as soon as possible. They are experiencing longer call times, so we recommend filing your claim directly online. We have gathered several resources to help you file your claim, including a visual guide. The amount of benefits will vary per individual and we are aware that for some of you, this may not be sufficient to cover all of your bills. This is where we have been looking for solutions that the company can provide. Please be reminded that your regularly scheduled paycheck is still on the way for April 3rd for hours you have already worked through March 26th.
- We will immediately be committing $2 million in assistance to our employees and their families across Knighted companies. We are being careful to provide assistance to our team members without interfering with the benefits received from the state and federal government. We also are looking into ways that you can receive assistance with minimal tax obligations and our goal is to get this assistance out to you in a way that is most beneficial for all of you. Our corporate employees needed to keep basic functions of the company operating have also agreed to take a reduction in pay while working full time to contribute to this $2 million assistance. Please stay tuned for additional updates as we work out the details.
- Medical, Dental, Vision: Your company-sponsored health benefits will continue, despite casino shutdowns or unemployment claims. Additionally, if you were actively on payroll prior to the start of the shutdown (not on a leave of absence), then any of the payments associated with these benefits that are typically deducted from your paycheck will be paid by Knighted without a lapse in coverage beginning on the pay period of March 13 – March 26 for your paycheck on April 3. You will not be responsible for this lapse in premium payments for these plans, nor will you need to retro pay them upon reopening of the casino and your return to work. For those new hires who are not yet eligible per the 60 day waiting period, your normal waiting period will not be impacted while we are on shutdown. You will be able to enroll in your benefits without interruption and will receive information on how to do so.
- Voluntary Benefits through Trustmark: If you are currently enrolled in any voluntary benefits through Trustmark, please be reminded that those are employee-owned (meaning, you own them and there isn’t any portion of sponsorship from Knighted). You will continue to be responsible for payroll deductions for those plans during the shutdown period (meaning, Knighted cannot sponsor or waive your deductions associated with those plans at this time). We are committed to keeping our plans compliant, however, if there are any changes to legislative compliance requirements regarding these plans, we will let you know.
- Commuter Benefits: For any commuter benefits you may have through Discovery (transit and parking), you will continue to be responsible for the cost of your contributions through the shutdown period, however, you can cancel or modify contributions to these plans at any time.
- PTO: You will continue to accrue PTO as normal for each pay period throughout the temporary shutdown period. We are allowing our employees to elect whether or not to use PTO and it will not be added automatically for any time missed. We understand that you may want to save your time so please be sure to communicate with your Ops Managers.
- Attendance: All of our employees will start at a clean attendance state for the month of March, when the casino has reopened and it is time to return to work.
We will be holding more Town Hall gatherings as events unfold – our next one is on Wednesday, March 25th – and are working to update our FAQs with more answers to the questions submitted. We understand that this is a very scary situation for many of you, both in terms of health and finances. This is an unprecedented time not just in our industry but in the world and we hope that you’ll trust in our leadership and have patience with us as we figure things out. We are all in this together and we care deeply about everyone.
Thank you Knights. Take care of yourselves and each other.
