Rs 95,000 For Every Year Worked: US Company Rewards Loyalty With Stocks, Oldest Staff To Get Rs 46 Lakh

A Las Vegas casino operator has marked its 50th anniversary with an unusually generous surprise for its employees. According to a post by Fortune, the company is handing out more than $70 million (around Rs 6,700 crore) worth of company stock to nearly 10,000 workers. Employees of Station Casinos were invited to a surprise anniversary event at Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa in Las Vegas on Wednesday, where Red Rock Resorts Chairman and CEO Frank Fertitta III and Vice Chairman Lorenzo Fertitta announced the giveaway.

"When you walk out of here today, we want you to walk out differently than you walked in, not just as someone who works at Station Casinos, but as someone who owns a piece of it. Every guest you take care of, every shift you show up for, this is now your company too," Lorenzo Fertitta told the employees.

Under the programme, eligible employees will receive $1,000 (around Rs 95,942) worth of Red Rock Resorts Class A stock for every year they have worked for the company. The longer an employee has been with Station Casinos, the larger their award.

For some of the company's longest-serving workers, that has translated into tens of thousands of dollars in stock.

Ida Johnson, who joined the company in 1977, received $49,000 (around Rs 46 lakh) worth of shares. Six other employees who began working at Bingo Palace in the 1970s and are still with the company today each received more than $45,000 (around Rs 42 lakh) in equity.

The stock grants are being made available to eligible employees from Monday. The company said the initiative represents an investment in nearly 10,000 full-time and part-time workers, most of whom are based in Southern Nevada.

Station Casinos traces its history to 1976, when founder Frank Fertitta Jr. opened a small casino in Las Vegas with 100 slot machines, six table games and 90 employees. The property was renamed Bingo Palace the following year and eventually became Palace Station in 1984.

"From the very beginning, our dad knew it was the team members and the relationships with our guests that was the most important part of the casino business," Fertitta III told Fortune.

"Our father founded this company on a few simple principles: serve the local community, deliver great value, and most importantly, take care of our team members. This award reflects those values and recognises the people who have brought them to life every day for the past 50 years," he added. 

The modest operation has since grown into a major Las Vegas casino business. The company now operates properties across the Las Vegas Valley, including Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa, Green Valley Ranch Resort Spa Casino and Durango Casino & Resort, among others.