Vail Resorts Chief Executive Officer Kirsten Lynch sent an email to employees Monday saying hourly employees will get $2 more an hour for any hours worked from January first to through the end of the ski season.
Park City Mountain is one Vail’s 40 ski resorts in North America.
Lynch said Vail’s mission, which is to give guests the experience of a lifetime, starts with the employee. She acknowledged this year has not been easy thanks to the global labor shortage, the acceleration of the COVID-19 omicron variant, and the late snowfall. As a result, many employees have had to carry what she calls “an extra burden.” And in recognition of that effort, they are getting a raise.
All full-time and part-time hourly employees who work through their resort’s last day of the season are qualified for the pay increase. For a 40-hour a week employee who works through April 15th, that means an extra $1,200.
Some higher-level salaried employees who don’t qualify for management or sales incentive bonuses will get a flat-rate payout of $1,500. All employees will get their bonuses in May.
Lynch also noted it is unusual to take this kind of action in the middle of a season, but this has been an unusual season.
A footnote to Lynch’s email says the bonus is also being offered to employees represented by a union, subject to their acceptance and the terms of their contract. The Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association still does not have a new contract with Vail. The two sides have been negotiating since last summer and over the weekend the union voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike.
