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Aoraki / Mt Cook’s biggest employer is axing 157 of its 178 roles and has given affected staff living on the premises just under seven weeks to find a new home.
A document given to Stuff by a Hermitage Hotel staff member on the condition of anonymity, outlining Aoraki / Mt Cook Alpine Village Limited’s final decision, shows it differs from a proposal outlined in a meeting to staff on April 1, which saved just eight roles from the chopping block.
It has thrown a lifeline to 13 extra employees by retaining a reservations’ agent, boosting the maintenance team by three, and deciding to reopen its Mt Cook Lodge and Motels on August 1 which will require a team of nine to run.
“By focusing on a smaller offering based out of the lodge, we believe this gives us the best opportunity to capture some early domestic tourism,” Hermitage Hotel general manager Jason Winter says in the document.
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“While this demand is far from certain, we are prepared to accept the risk of limited occupancy and the associated costs.”
Staff had until Tuesday to offer feedback on the proposal.
Meanwhile, the hotel had begun selling accommodation which is available from September 24.
This coincides with the New Zealand school holidays. We see this as an opportunity to understand what the market will look like in spring and to be able to make further operational decisions over the next few months, ”Winter says.
“There is, however, no certainty that this will be successful or what guest levels we might attract.”
The selection process for the nine new, multi-disciplinary roles at the lodge will take place on Monday and Tuesday.
“There are no further options for redeployment,” Winter says.
Those keeping their roles at the hotel include the general manager, sales and marketing director, activities manager, asset and property manager, HR manager, reservations manager, reservations agent, Glacier Explorers manager, assistant asset manager, maintenance duty technician, electrician, and painter .
Redundancies will be felt across the food and beverage, both kitchen and service; front office; housekeeping; and accounts departments.
“Staff for whom there is no longer a role and are identified for redundancy would be given at least four weeks’ notice as per their employment agreement. There is no additional entitlement to redundancy compensation. ”
The decision will be implemented on May 13.
Winter says once the country shifts to Covid-19 alert level two, Work and Income will visit Aoraki / Mt Cook Village to provide assistance to New Zealand citizens and permanent residents made redundant during the restructuring process.
For those on a work visa, he says the hotel had reached out to Immigration for information and clarity on the available options.
“We will continue to do this through the next six weeks for all affected staff. This week the Government presented a bill to parliament to amend Immigration law to deal with the impact of Covid-19 on temporary visa holders. ”
Affected staff living in the village on a service tenancy have been asked to move by June 24. The report says staff have asked why they are unable to stay on as a private tenant.
“This type of tenancy [service tenancy] agreement is used when worker accommodation is provided and linked to employment. Private tenancies operate within a very different legal and regulatory framework that we do not believe we could comply with, ”Winter says.
“We do not want to make commitments that we may not be able to honor.
“We feel we are acting with more integrity by being clear about expectations, enabling staff to make future plans and not miss out on opportunities elsewhere.
“Through this process, we will ensure that staff are given the appropriate information and notice to make plans. This includes departure from accommodation. As we said in the proposal, there may be exceptional circumstances, and we will work with those people on a case-by-case basis. ”
Staff questioned why the hotel was not providing options for Kiwis wanting to travel domestically under level two. They suggested a number of ways to attract bookings including offering discounts to school groups, essential workers, and wedding parties.
“Independent market research has indicated that while the intent might be positive, there are a number of hurdles to converting the intent into a booking,” Winter says.
Hurdles included only 39 per cent of Kiwis wanting to take a domestic break within the next three months, two-thirds of whom saw the risk of catching Covid-19 significant enough to prevent travel; and competing against other winter activities.
“This does not give us confidence to commit to an opening date for the hotel. However, we are willing to take on risks of low occupancy in the lodge over the next few months in order to provide an option for those that are willing and able to travel. ”
Stuff has approved Winter for further comment.
