Casino operators in Macau are being encouraged to participate in a “voluntary” pension plan run by the government for other businesses. Labor representatives in the gambling enclave want the six operators to get onboard, saying that it will help protect workers and give them better options for their pensions.

One of the representatives has suggested that the government provide an incentive to the operators to join the fund. The casinos will soon face the end of their license periods – in either 2020 or 2022 – and the legislator said that the government could use the threat of having a renewal approved as an incentive to convince the operators to agree to participate.

The Power of the Macao Gaming Association (PMGA), a Macau labor group, and Macau legislator Leong Sun Iok have expressed their desire that the casino operators sign up for the “non-mandatory central provident fund.” Iok is a member of the Macau Federation of Trade Unions, a traditionalist workers’ group.

In a conversation with media outlet GGRAsia, PMGA director Lei Iok Po said, “The six casino operators have different pension schemes…but there are practices that… employees – upon ‘reasonable dismissal’ – will not get a single cent of the employers’ contribution to their pension scheme.” He then added, “In that sense, the government’s provident fund scheme is better because the employee can obtain the employer’s contribution in any scenario of a labour contract termination.” He pointed out one potential downside to the pension fund, though, stating, “The disadvantage with the government scheme is that workers can only withdraw their funds [pension money] at 65 years old.”