In Macau, tomorrow will see the Legislative Assembly decide whether to ratify a measure that would officially prohibit the city’s around 54,000 casino employees from entering the gaming floor of all local casinos for any purpose other than to work.

Junket employees included:

According to a report from GGRAsia, the government-backed prohibition is aimed at curbing problem gambling among staff at the city’s many casinos and would include table game dealers and the about 8,000 people directly employed by junket operators.

Problem gambling prevention:

The 33-member Legislative Assembly unanimously approved a draft of the prohibition in July before sending the proposal to a trio of committees in order to work out its exact language. This reportedly came after official data from the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau showed that the mass of those seeking help for problem gambling in the six years from 2011 in Macau had been casino workers.

Exclusions included:

If ratified on Tuesday, GGRAsia reported that the ban would also include staff directly employed by casinos in non-gaming roles such as food service, cleaning, surveillance and cage operations although it would not cover outsourced workers filling the same positions. The measure would moreover institute a twelve-month grace period while allowing casino employees to gamble during the first three days of the Chinese New Year.

The source further added that the legislation would furthermore allow casino employees to visit a gaming floor outside of working hours if they are receiving education, being trained or ‘participating in an association’s event.’

Inspectors deployed:

Finally, it reported that the proposed legislation would task the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau with all enforcement duties via the deployment of inspectors while establishing a confidential hotline for the reporting of potential infractions.