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Canadiens temporarily lay off 60 percent of personnel due to COVID-19
Groupe CH, the organization that owns the Montreal Canadiens, announced it will be temporarily laying off 60 percent of their personnel on Tuesday.
The layoffs are a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the order will take effect on March 30.
"Now more than ever, it is important to support our community and demonstrate our solidarity to one another. We are working extremely hard to limit the impact this situation will have on our employees. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our employees for their understanding and patience. During difficult times like these, our commitment to one another will help us rebound faster," Groupe CH owner, president, and CEO, Geoff Molson said in a statement.
The organization announced that it created a $6 million assistance fund, which will ensure that employees affected by the layoffs will maintain their insurance benefits for eight weeks, and will receive 80 percent of their base salary during this timeframe.
Groupe CH also owns the AHL’s Laval Rocket.
The NHL announced in a separate decision Tuesday that league office employees will have their pay reduced by 25 percent as of April 1 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After the NBA suspended its season on March 11, the NHL followed suit and paused its campaign on March 12.
This is the latest drastic measure from teams responding to the economic impact of the pandemic. Josh Harris, who owns the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils, announced Monday that employees earning over $50,000 per year will see a 20 percent pay cut from April 15 to the end of June.
Montreal previously announced on March 15 that it had established an assistance program for their employees who were left without work after the NHL and AHL paused its seasons.
Here is a comprehensive look of how every NHL team planned to address — and in some cases, did not plan to address — how it would pay their part-time workers during the shutdown.
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