Workplace Factors that Encourage and Discourage Gambling amongst Gaming Venue Employees: A Managers’ Perspective

This paper reports on one stage of a large qualitative research project examining the gambling behaviour of employees in gaming venues in Queensland, Australia. For this stage, managers’ opinions were gathered on how working in gaming venues influences employees’ gambling. Personal interviews were conducted with 44 club, 27 hotel and two casino managers. Judgement sampling was used to include managers from venues of different sizes, types and locations. Using content analysis, eight major workplace factors, comprised of 46 sub-factors, were perceived to encourage employees to gamble. Nine major workplace factors, comprising of 27 sub-factors, emerged that appear to discourage employees from gambling. Nine major workplace factors, comprising of 47 sub-factors, were reported to have no influence on staff gambling. Most managers consider that working in a gambling venue mainly discourages employees from gambling.