Universal parks furloughing some workers, cutting pay and extending closures
As cases from the novel coronavirus continue to rise throughout the United States, all Universal parks are extending their closures by six weeks. Some employees will also be getting a cut in pay and others will be furloughed.
On Thursday, Universal Parks & Resort announced that Universal Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood would be closed until at least May 31 as the parks “continue to respond to current conditions and make the health and safety of team members and guests our top priority,” Universal said.
This includes hotels and Universal CityWalk in Florida and California. This is the second time the parks closures had to be extended. On March 24, Universal said the closures would last until April 19.
Universal is not only extending the closures, but also announced its team members will be paid at 100% until April 19. The next day, almost all workers will be paid at 80% of their pay. The company also said part-time hourly workers will be furloughed starting May 3, but Universal will still fully cover the cost of benefit plans.
“All of these team members remain in our thoughts — and, while we don’t yet know when, we look forward to returning them to work one day,” Universal said.
Disney announced on March 27 that Walt Disney World and Disneyland would be closed indefinitely.
The Walt Disney Company and SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment are also furloughing some of their employees. SeaWorld announced it would not be paying more than 90% of its employees, which started April 1.
Disney said it would be furloughing some of its employees at Disneyland and Walt Disney World starting April 19.
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