Disney Furloughs Employees Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

Disney will furlough non-union employees at theme parks.

At this time, during the Coronavirus pandemic, Disney indefinitely closed their parks. Now, the company announced plans to furlough non-union workers and stop collecting payments for its annual park passes.

“Disney employees have received full pay and benefits during this time, and we’ve committed to paying them through April 18, for a total of five additional weeks of compensation,” the company said in a statement Thursday. “However, 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.”

According to CNBC, employees will receive full health-care benefits. Disney will also pay the cost of employee and company premiums. Employees will too bless to continue their Disney Aspire education program.

Disney also reports, employees will be eligible for $600 per week in federal aid through the $2 trillion economic stimulus bill.

Currently, Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products segment have 177,000 cast members. “This reality has been sobering to all of us,” executives from Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products wrote in a letter to staff Thursday. “As difficult as this decision was, we know it was the right one to help protect our cast members, our guests, and our communities.”

The company announced it had made changes to its annual pass holder tickets due to the Coronavirus. Guests who bought their annual pass in full, their passes will be extended. For those on the monthly plan, Disney will halt all future payments.

What does Furlough mean?

• According to Merriam-Webster, Furlough means  “to cease to employ (a worker) often temporarily.” The dictionary company points out that Furlough is a benevolent way to say, fire, otherwise removing someone from a job for an indefinite time.

Given the ambiguity of the term, the word’s definition will depend upon someone who uses it. More specifically, if a company says they are furloughing their staff for an indefinite period, according to Merriam-Webster dictionary, they are technically fired from their job.

This news comes after Disney’s CEO Bog Iger, will give up his salary, and newly named CEO Bob Chapek will take a 50% pay cut to his salary during the coronavirus pandemic, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

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