Online casino staff dispute severance payout

A legal ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeal in South Africa has become the catalyst for up to 70 online casino employees having their employment contracts terminated. The staff at Pigg's Peak Online Casino received their exit packages at the end of May, despite a last minute plea to officials to intervene in actions they claimed to be "forced" and "grossly unfair".

In a letter to Acting Labour Commissioner Khabo Dlamini, the employees requested her support after the company owners offered voluntary exit packages at allegedly very short notice. They went on to claim their situation was characterised by "grossly unfair labour practices which the company has carried out with impunity over the preceding years. Furthermore, the company has never entered into or attempted to negotiate any sort of retrenchment/redundancy packages with the employees. We were simply given an offer and told to sign."

The allegations have been rigorously denied by Managing Director Howard Berchowitz, who claims he has given staff double what they should have received.

The release of staff has come after the online casino lost a year long legal battle with the South African National Gambling Board. The Supreme Court agreed that Pigg's Peak Online Gambling Brand of Casino, Poker, Bingo and Volcanic Gold did not hold a license to offer online gaming to South African players and as a result, should immediately cease operations in the country.

Although players from Swaziland and Namibia would still be allowed to gamble on the Swaziland-based website, the majority of its clientele are based in South African. Faced with losing up to 90% of its business, Pigg's Peak Casino say they were left with no choice but to cease trading.