Industry News
In early February, Vail Resorts was named to Forbes’ “America’s Best Large Employers” list. The list comprises 500 large companies, with data gathered from a survey of 50,000 American workers from companies with over 1,000 employees. These employers are spread across various industries, with Vail Resorts cutting it as one of the 25 Travel & Leisure businesses. Out of the list of 500, Vail comes in at 372nd and employs about 38,500 people. This most recent edition marked the 5th consecutive time that Vail Resorts was named to the Forbes list.
“This has certainly been the most challenging year our company has ever faced, and operating safely and successfully would not have been possible without the unwavering dedication of our incredible employees. The one thing that we are most proud of is our ongoing commitment to what matters most: our core values, which we each hold ourselves accountable to in every decision we make. Through this exceptional year, we have remained rooted in our values—above all else, our commitment to keeping each other and our guests safe.” – Lynanne Kunkel, Chief Human Resources Officer at Vail Resorts.
In addition to this recent acknowledgment, in August of 2020, Forbes also named Vail Resorts to their list of “America’s Best Employers for Women.” Vail prides itself in championing its women, with at least nearly half of its Board of Directors and Executive Committee positions occupied by women. The recognition by Forbes comes after Vail Resorts started its program designed to foster diversity and inclusivity within its ranks in 2019. The program, named POWDER, aims to grow leadership diversity from its already strong pool of talent.
Unfortunately, these accolades bookend a lawsuit filed against Vail Resorts in December 2020. Three employees at Beaver Creek, CO, claim that the company has repeatedly violated federal and state labor laws and owes them unpaid wages and overtime. The plaintiffs have stated that Vail “systematically fails to pay its hourly employees for all hours worked.” The validity of these allegations remains unclear, but hopefully, the ski resort giants stay true to their core values and back their employees.
- Related: 3 Employees File Lawsuit Against Vail Resorts Alleging Federal and State Labor Law Violations
Just take a look at Vail Resorts reviews on their google maps location… it definitely says otherwise. As a former employee, they used to hold food drives for their workers because of people being paid too low to afford anything to eat.
You can’t bring yourself to mention the current labor dispute involving Vail ski patrollers, where they’re not paid or treated fairly and Vail refuses to compromise or negotiate over working conditions? C’mon dudes, that’s a real disservice to the ski patrollers out there keeping us safe every day for peanuts (as opposed to Forbes and Vail execs). Why don’t you make them your headline instead of the throwaway mention you gave them.
https://www.parkrecord.com/news/business/not-on-strike-just-practicing-ski-patrollers-locked-in-negotiations-with-vail-resorts-picket-at-pcmr/