Evolution Gaming Georgia to Fire 1300 after Suspending Contracts of 3000

Online casino company Evolution Gaming, operating in several countries, including Georgia, announced they will terminate contracts with 1300 of their Georgian employees after already suspending the contracts of 3000. All 1300 workers were undergoing a 6-month probationary period.

Evolution Gaming explains that the decision was made after the announcement of a quarantine in the country, aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19. They added that the fired employees will still keep their health insurance for a further two months.

Evolution Gaming stopped working on March 23 due to the coronavirus outbreak in the country, and on the same day, the employers suspended the contracts of their game presenters and card shufflers.

Some employees told media they repeatedly appealed to the administration to tighten sanitary norms. They say tens of hundreds of people working in one space were at risk of getting coronavirus. According to them, the company said it was following all the recommendations of the World Health Organization.

In a previous statement released by the company, Evolution Gaming says the reason they decided to close down is that one of their employees fell sick during work.

“She was immediately taken to a special room. According to the plan, we contacted the medical service, which did not consider this person as having symptoms of the virus, and therefore she was not tested for COVID-19. However, she was told to go home and self-isolate,” the statement reads.

The company noted that this person felt better afterwards, but for safety reasons all people who were in contact with her were sent home to self-quarantine.

"Every employee who worked in our studios is at home, and we had to stop operations,” the company said.

NGO Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC), which is protecting the rights of Evolution Gaming employees, says the decision to terminate the contracts of 1300 people is a violation of human rights.

EMC believes that by terminating an employment contract with employees during the probationary period, the company grossly violates the rights of employees, abuses the dominant position of the employer and neglects the legal standards in force in the country.

“The company terminated the contracts of only those employees who were on a probationary period and not those of other employees to whom they would have to pay compensation after the termination of the employment contract. Clearly, Evolution Gaming has reduced its workforce not by distinguishing and allocating the necessary staff for its operation, but to have the minimum financial costs. Clearly, this selection was made in order to avoid the obligation to pay compensation and was not motivated by the study of needs,” the NGO stressed.

EMC explains that when an employer terminates the employment contract with at least 100 employees within 15 calendar days due to economic circumstances, technological or organizational changes, it is considered a mass dismissal and obliges the employer to send a written notice 45 days prior to the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs and the employees whose employment contracts are terminated.

The organization says the employees did not receive any prior notice about the termination of their contracts.

Evolution Gaming released the following statement: “On March 23, the floor operations within Evolution Georgia were shut down by the Georgian authorities. As the broadcasting studio was not allowed to operate, Evolution could not offer any shifts to about 3000 Game Presenters (who lead the games) and Shufflers (who prepare the cards). Since the shut down, Evolution has completed all measures required by the local authorities for a reopening.

“On March 30, the Georgian Government announced a countrywide quarantine. The news meant that even if the company was allowed to reopen, it would not be able to operate at its full capacity for several months and meaning Evolution’s planned expansion in Georgia for 2020 would not be as planned and the number of the personnel of the company would need to be adjusted according to the current restrictions introduced by the Government.

“As a consequence of the quarantine, Evolution made an early termination of about 1300 people on probation on March 31. In line with the Georgian labor law, termination of probation does not require any notice to any public authority or any termination compensation, except the compensation for the hours worked prior to the termination.

“Evolution wishes to express that the decision to terminate probation for these individuals was not easy and not at all what the company had hoped for. But under the current circumstances in Georgia, there was no other option.

“Evolution Georgia will continue to keep up dialogue with the local government with the hopes of reopening its broadcast studio in Tbilisi soon to be able to offer as many as possible of the permanent workforce the opportunity to earn an income. The company has completed all measures required by the local authorities so far and stands ready to do more if necessary.”

By Tea Mariamidze

Image source: Netgazeti