NEWS: Disney to Furlough Many Employees

Disney has just announced it will furlough many of its employees. The official statement is outlined below.

With the decision to delay reopening indefinitely, Disney is having to manage how it will pay its employees. In an email that was sent to executive, salaried, and non-union employees, the furlough will begin April 19.

According to The OC Register, the email states:

“With the utmost care and consideration, we are instituting a temporary, short-term furlough for executive, salaried and non-union hourly Cast Members based in the U.S. with the exception of those whose roles or projects are crucial to maintaining our operations during this closure period, effective April 19,” the letter from Disney said.

“With no clear indication of when we can restart our businesses, we’re forced to make the difficult decision to take the next step and furlough employees whose jobs aren’t necessary at this time,” Disney officials said in a statement. “The furlough process will begin on April 19, and all impacted workers will remain Disney employees through the duration of the furlough period.”

“Once furloughed, they are eligible to receive an extra $600 per week in federal compensation through the $2 trillion economic stimulus bill, as well as state unemployment insurance,” Disney officials said in the statement.

Furloughed employees will still receive full healthcare and insurance benefits. They can also apply for unemployment benefits, although the process for applying in Florida is hard right now. The website is functioning properly. However, the governor does intend to improve the issues.

SeaWorld has made the same decision recently to furlough about 90% of its workforce.

SeaWorld Temporarily Furloughs 90% of Employees

All of us at KennythePirate are hopeful this will not go on for an extended period of time so these employees can go back to work and life can resume some sense of normalcy.

What do you think of Disney furloughing many of its employees? Let us know over on facebook. You can also join our KtP Planning Crew and continue the discussion.

-Monica