Are Cast Members Getting Paid While Parks Close?

[Searc]

Wow. Speaks volumes about you as a person.

It sure does.

 

[NotUrsula]

The overseas parks are governed by the local laws where they are, so Disney, like any other employer, will have to do what is required by law. They could, of course, be more generous than what is required, but they do not have to be. This is from the South China Morning Post, on January 25th:

On Friday, China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said companies had to pay and could not fire infected persons, suspected sufferers or people in close contact with them if they could not work. Companies who “suffer difficulties” in operations can, through negotiations with staff, adjust the pay, rotate shifts and shorten working hours of staff to prevent lay-offs, the ministry said, and eligible enterprises may also receive subsidies.

By February 19th, Fortune magazine ran a story that said that the factories were stopping wage payments because the money was running out. https://fortune.com/2020/02/19/coronavirus-china-workers-businesses-pay-wages/

Of course, unlike a locally-owned factory, Disney has sources of income outside those countries, so they really cannot claim that the money is totally gone, but their local partner management companies might be able to.

I we are speaking of what might happen in Florida, here is some background around that:

This is from the Orlando Business Journal's 2019 summary:

• Orlando's 75 million visitors generated more than $75.2 billion in annual economic impact for Central Florida.
• Each visitors spends on average $1,000 per person, per trip.
• Tourism supports 41% of the region's workforce at more than 463,000 jobs.
• Last year, more than $5.8 billion in local ad state tax revenue was generated through the tourism industry, which is used by governments to fund operations such as infrastructure projects, public safety, school construction and more.

This is the Disney Company's investor relations page: https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/investor-relations/ You can see the earnings charts there.

Florida is an employer-paid unemployment state. They do have a short waiting period, only one week before you can file. The maximum benefit is $275/wk, with payment for from 12-23 weeks, depending on the statewide unemployment rate. You have to have made a certain minimum for a qualifying "base period" to be able to apply, so people who were only recently hired (and had been unemployed before that) don't qualify for benefits. No benefits if you quit or are fired for cause; only for RIF layoffs.

I don't know for sure, as I don't work for the Disney Company, but if the parks are shut down (which FTR I do NOT think will ever happen) then I think that unemployment funds will be authorized by the state if it lasts longer than one week. The odds are that the Company will keep as many salaried employees working remotely as possible, but hourly line employees will probably not be paid by the company if they cannot work.

Where these scenarios can get tricky is benefits. I live in a state with similar unemployment insurance rules, and here, if your company has a temporary shutdown and applies for unemployment to cover it, they do have to keep paying your benefits, but if the employee is normally required to pay for part of the benefit, such as a health insurance premium, then they still have to do so to keep the benefit active, which means that a company can require temporarily laid-off employees to actually pay the company during the layoff, in order to stay current on things like health insurance. Having to do that can eat your entire unemployment check.

 

[rkstocke5609]

This is from the Orlando Business Journal's 2019 summary:


This is the Disney Company's investor relations page: https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/investor-relations/ You can see the earnings charts there.

Florida is an employer-paid unemployment state. They do have a short waiting period, only one week before you can file. The maximum benefit is $275/wk, with payment for from 12-23 weeks, depending on the statewide unemployment rate. You have to have made a certain minimum for a qualifying "base period" to be able to apply, so people who were only recently hired (and had been unemployed before that) don't qualify for benefits. No benefits if you quit or are fired for cause; only for RIF layoffs.

I don't know for sure, as I don't work for the Disney Company, but if the parks are shut down, then I think that unemployment funds will be authorized by the state if it lasts longer than one week. The odds are that the Company will keep as many salaried employees working remotely as possible, but hourly line employees will probably not be paid by the company if they cannot work.

Where these scenarios can get tricky is benefits. I live in a state with similar unemployment insurance rules, and here, if your company has a temporary shutdown and applies for unemployment to cover it, they do have to keep paying your benefits, but if the employee is normally required to pay for part of the benefit, such as a health insurance premium, then they still have to do so to keep the benefit active, which means that a company can require temporarily laid-off employees to actually pay the company during the layoff, in order to stay current on things like health insurance. Having to do that can eat your entire unemployment check.

Exactly! Which is why I doubt any parks will shut down unless they don’t have people willing to work.

 

[tinkerhon]

Who cares?

Think you took a wrong turn and ended up at Disboards -
Wow, what a reply ..

 

[Toolulu22]

Gosh, Think of all the Uber drivers not picking up rides, the wait staff in restaurants outside of WDW without tables, hotel and shopping areas without business, local entertainment places with no tourists to serve.

All this in addition to WDW/Universal/Seaworld etc. IF, it were to close for more than a few days.. oh, boy the economy in that area (and all over if we get to that point) is in real trouble.

But, let's hope it doesn't come to that! As of now, with so few cases in the US having been recorded, I'm hopeful it won't.

 

[Cindy's Mom]

the housewares show schedule for mid march in Chicago just cancelled. 47,000 hotel rooms and over 60,000 visitors. we have shows pretty much every week at McCormick place, this can be devastating to our economic. The cardiologist convention is after the housewares - they're still deciding what they're going to do.

 

[mrodgers]

Certainly I do. I care about people, my community and my investments as well. Apparently you don't, and that speaks volumes with only those two words. Thanks for the heads up.

So, what are you prepared to do about it? I think that's what the "who cares" kind of thoughts are. Nothing I can do about it. I'm not going to worry about it enough to ask. That's what I get out of "who cares" posts.

 

[RedAngie]

I'm guessing hourly employees won't be paid. The water parks close occasionally due to cold weather. The theme parks have closed a few times due to hurricanes. I don't know if those who were scheduled to work those days were paid, but I'm guessing no. Salaried employees may have had to use vacation or other PTO on those closure days.

 

[OhMickeyUrSoFine]

So, what are you prepared to do about it? I think that's what the "who cares" kind of thoughts are. Nothing I can do about it. I'm not going to worry about it enough to ask. That's what I get out of "who cares" posts.

I'm not one to subscribe to the philosophy of sticking one's head in the sand. In general, I like to know what's going on all over the world, especially where I have personal interests. I asked because I'm interested personally, as a Disney investor, as an annual pass-holder, former CM and lifelong volunteer (not only in my community but for organizations EAST as well). And there is plenty citizens, organizations and corporations can do for the community hit by economic strife, if it comes to that. But ... how can we prepare for anything if we don't know what may potentially be in store for us? This is why I asked and I shouldn't have to explain as to such. Any reaction questioning why I would want to know, and "who cares", is irrelevant. This is a message board to post responses and threads regarding Disney and various topics by members (which I happen to be). An attempt to invalidate someone posing a question is juvenile and petty. End of story.

 

[Coffee66]

I'm guessing hourly employees won't be paid. The water parks close occasionally due to cold weather. The theme parks have closed a few times due to hurricanes. I don't know if those who were scheduled to work those days were paid, but I'm guessing no. Salaried employees may have had to use vacation or other PTO on those closure days.

That's what happens when you don't have a strong union. I'm retired now and worked for a public utility. There were times they shut the offices and sent the work to a location not in harm's way... We were paid full wages oh we were hourly

 

[OhMickeyUrSoFine]

I'm guessing hourly employees won't be paid. The water parks close occasionally due to cold weather. The theme parks have closed a few times due to hurricanes. I don't know if those who were scheduled to work those days were paid, but I'm guessing no. Salaried employees may have had to use vacation or other PTO on those closure days.

From my previous work there, when I was hourly, I do remember closure due to hurricane and as an hourly we were not paid; yet, only a handful of managers had to report but I'm not aware if those managerial staff that were instructed to stay home were for that day or not. I'll keep looking into this online regarding overseas and asking friends. Odd, I didn't expect such an initial negative response for such an uncontroversial question.