Employees in Hong Kong Disneyland were asked to go back on unpaid leave starting from next week due to the worsening COVID-19 third wave that forced the theme park to close last month.
An estimate of 4,000 employees would be affected by the latest cost-cutting measures, said HK Disneyland Cast Members’ Union chairwoman Ellen Cheng Lai-Yee. Employees had been requested to take up to four unpaid holidays a month.
Reopening schedule of the theme park is still unclear, as the theme park was initially shut down on 26 January 2020, and reopened on 18 June. Cheng added the theme park had asked its employees to take several days of unpaid leave in April. They were paid normally when the park reopened in June.
Ellen said portion of the employees understand that the company no longer has an income, so it’s a measure to tide over the difficult period together.
“Some colleagues have to support the whole family, so they don’t want to face something like this. But others understand the company no longer has an income, so it’s a measure to tide over the difficult period together.”, mentioned Ellen Cheng, HK Disneyland Cast Members’ Union chairwoman.