Vail Bumps Minimum Wage to $10 - Ski Area Management

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SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., July 2, 2015—Vail Resorts is increasing its minimum wage for entry-level positions to $10 an hour. Effective Sept. 26, the pay hike will affect nearly 7,500 of Vail's 25,000 employees in eight states, including workers in housekeeping, lift operations, food preparation, and retail sales.

Currently, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, but 29 states and Washington, D.C., have minimum wages above that level.

VR's increase puts its entry wage $1 above the $9 per hour mandated minimum wage in California, $1.77 higher than Colorado's minimum wage, and $2.75 over Utah's. One exception: employees at the Grand Teton Lodge Co., Wyo., will receive a minimum $8.50 an hour plus an employee housing benefit.

For the future, the company added, it will raise its entry-level pay each year based on inflation.

Rob Katz, CEO of Vail Resorts, said the pay increase would help the company remain competitive in the hunt for workers. "We are taking this step because it is incumbent on us to do the right thing for our employees as well as remain competitive as an employer," he said.

That competition stems, in part, from the cost of living in its resorts' hometowns. The cost of living in areas such as Park City, Utah, South Lake Tahoe, Calif., and Colorado's Eagle and Summit counties is reported to be as much as 60 percent higher than the national average.

Katz added that the wage increase does not address all of his company's “compensation issues,” but said it's “a big step forward, and will not be the last step we take, even for this upcoming season."

Katz said Vail was not trying to make a political statement with the pay raise. "We are simply doing what we think is right for our stakeholders—our employees, guests, communities, mountains and shareholders."

Earlier this month, Vail's third quarter report for fiscal 2015 showed net income and lift ticket revenue were both up about 13 percent over the previous year. Vail Resorts' most recent annual report shows the company's executive officers received a 3 percent salary increase in 2014.