Morritt’s retains employees during lockdown

The hospitality and tourism industry is one of the most important sectors in the Cayman Islands’ economy, but the lockdown instigated to prevent the Covid-19 pandemic from badly impacting the country has meant the industry has had to temporarily close, as the country’s borders closed. This has caused job losses island-wide, as predicted by the Chamber of Commerce’s study to assess the economic impact of Covid-19, which estimated more than 4,000 out of a total of 7,452 tourism employees could lose their jobs by the end of this year, following a protracted lockdown.

Against this backdrop, East End’s vacation club Morritt’s Resort has managed to keep all staff on their payroll. They opted against laying off their employees, and instead have ensured that each of their staff members remains employed. During the first seven weeks that the vacation club was closed, each staff member was paid full pay, and at 75 per cent full pay thereafter.

Bill Powers, Morritt’s General Manager explained that their staff were a key factor in why the resort had so many visitors, year-on-year, and was the main contributor as to why they chose to retain employees.

“Our guests repeatedly tell us that some of the things they love so much about our resort, and what keeps them coming back, are the familiar faces and sense of community that we’ve developed,” he said.

“Many of our staff have been with us for decades and really are like family, so it was our top priority to ensure that their needs were met during this time.”

Morritt’s plans to offer staycation packages for residents within the Cayman Islands, starting on 26 June 2020. It is also expected that employees will return to full pay after this date.