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GKL brings workplace counseling to casino employees
Grand Korea Leisure (GKL) headquarters in Seoul / Courtesy of GKL
By Lee Kyung-min
Employees at Grand Korea Leisure (GKL), the operator of Korea’s Seven Luck foreigner-only casinos, are getting a well-deserved break from the grueling pressures of customer service and rotating shifts. In a direct effort to prioritize staff well-being, the state-owned enterprise is bringing professional counseling directly to the casino floor.
The company announced the rollout of a mobile labor counseling initiative named "No-ri-teo" — a clever Korean wordplay translating to "Let us talk openly about labor and management issues." Designed for maximum reach, the weeklong program kicked off Monday, making stops at GKL’s Seoul headquarters, the Gangnam Coex branch and the Seoul Dragon City branch, before wrapping up its tour at the Busan Lotte branch.
To ensure night staff members are not left out, counseling booths remain open from 11:00 a.m. until midnight, seamlessly accommodating workers across all three duty shifts. The initiative provides a confidential space to address workplace grievances while offering vital support for the heavy emotional labor required in hospitality.
"I hope No-ri-teo will serve as a welcoming retreat where our GKL family members — who work so hard through emotional labor and shift work — can pause to enjoy a cup of coffee, clear their minds, seek guidance for their concerns, and relieve stress," said GKL President Yoon Doo-hyun.
The mobile outreach is just one piece of GKL’s broader employee wellness strategy for its approximately 1,700 workers. The company has funded comprehensive wellness initiatives since 2013 and partnered with professional agencies to provide ongoing psychological counseling and coaching since 2014.
More recently, GKL launched the "Perfect Care" manual to protect front-line staff from customer-induced burnout, complemented by immersive forest therapy retreats that give weary team members a peaceful setting to recharge away from the gaming floor.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.