Thursday, some employees at Disney including Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm staffers were among those at the studio giant to receive anticipated furlough notices coming as part of a drawdown in reaction to the coronavirus pandemic, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In addition to those studios, Disney’s marketing and distribution departments “have been especially impacted.”
Furloughing an employee is where a company puts them on a temporary leave of absence that may or may not be paid in the time off. In some countries, government funding is available to partially replace the employee’s lost income.
On April 2, Disney announced that employees “whose jobs aren’t necessary at this time” would be temporarily dismissed as of April 19. Those furloughed employees will reportedly continue to receive whatever health care benefits they normally received as an employee, with Disney also stepping in to pay any premiums. Paid time off can be used by employees, and according to THR they would also be “eligible to receive an extra $600 per week in federal compensation through the $2 trillion economic stimulus bill, as well as state unemployment insurance.”
Newsarama has reached out to Marvel Comics about any employees of that Disney division being affected, but have not received a response.