Geppi Family Enterprises, the parent company of Diamond Comic Distributors, announced Monday it is furloughing some employees as a means to “protect our company’s financial future and preserve jobs.”
Beginning Monday, all impacted workers currently enrolled in a company health/benefit play will continue to receive coverage, with Geppi Family Enterprises paying 100% of the premium during the furlough.
Diamond suspended receiving new products for distribution as of April 1 and initially suspended payments to its vendors but shortly after announced a weekly 25% payment schedule with 75% deferred payments to follow.
The full announcement follows:
As you know, COVID-19 is having a dramatic impact on businesses around the globe and unfortunately, Diamond is no exception.
As a result, we have made the difficult decision to furlough some employees.
This was not a decision we made lightly, and we only do so to protect our company’s financial future and preserve jobs. We have taken several steps already to mitigate our financial exposure including delaying payment to publishers, extending vendor payment terms and significantly reducing executive compensation. It is our goal that, on the other side of this crisis, our furloughed employees will return to their roles.
The furlough period begins today, April 13, and all impacted workers currently enrolled in one of the group’s health, vision and/or dental insurance plans will maintain coverage. During the furlough period, we will pay 100% of the cost of the premium, both employer and employee contributions.
While the furlough is in effect, a number of individuals will continue working in business-critical roles and in preparation for when we are able to resume distribution of new product. For our retailer partners, reorders of in-stock Diamond products can still be ordered for direct shipments via Diamond’s Retailer Services Website. Please continue to consult our Coronavirus Updates page for an ongoing list of resources available to retailers during this crisis.
Additionally, retailerservices.diamondcomics.com/coronavirus is a single source for other Coronavirus-related information from Diamond and our publishers.
As a company and an industry we will navigate what lies ahead and we are committed to emerging and thriving on the other side of this crisis. We look forward to the day when we are able to be together again and resume the weekly distribution of new product.