Disney Announces Additional Furloughs Due To COVID-19 Closures
ANAHEIM (CBSLA) — With Disneyland and California Adventure still closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Disney confirmed Monday that an undisclosed number of employees at the Anaheim resort will be furloughed.
According to the Orange County Register, Disneyland President Ken Potrock said in a Monday letter to employees that the furloughs would impact executive, salaried and hourly employees.
"Since Disneyland resort closed its gates in March, nothing has been more important than fully reopening and getting our cast members back to work," Potrock wrote in the letter obtained by the Register. "That's why it is with heavy hearts we find ourselves in the untenable situation of having to institute additional furloughs for our executive, salaried and hourly cast."
Disney previously furloughed non-essential employees at its U.S. theme parks in April and announced in September that it would be laying off 28,000 employees at Disneyland and Walt Disney World as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
"We expected to be able to open our parks in Anaheim, given our proven ability to operate with responsible health and safety protocols as we have in all of our other theme parks around the world, but unfortunately this has not been the case," Potrock wrote.
According to the Register, furloughed Disneyland employees would maintain health and insurance benefits and can use some or all of their paid time off at the start of the furlough period. The furloughed employees would also be eligible for state unemployment benefits.
It was not immediately clear how many employees would be impacted by the newly announced furloughs.