PITTSBURGH _ Penguins president and CEO David Morehouse told team employees on Monday that the team plans to institute a four-month unpaid leave of absence program for a number of employees because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Penguins say those impacted by this program, which begins June 1, will remain team employees and receive full health benefits from the team. Those employees will also be eligible for unemployment and stimulus benefits.
Morehouse, who told employees on a video conference call Monday, called it "the most difficult thing I have ever had to do in my professional career."
Morehouse will also take a 50% pay reduction as part of this four-month program and other senior executives and coaches will take 25% reductions.
"With the continued uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its growing impact on our business, I have made the very painful decision to reduce our operations to help us weather this unprecedented health and financial crisis," Morehouse said in a statement released by the team Tuesday evening.
Tuesday marked the two-month anniversary of the NHL pausing its season due to the pandemic. In the days after the March 12 decision to suspend play, Morehouse and general manager Jim Rutherford took voluntary pay cuts so that other members of team staff would not be as impacted financially.
The Penguins say all employees were paid in full over the past two months.
As public health experts and government officials grapple with COVID-19, which has now been linked to more than 80,000 deaths in the U.S., the NHL and its players continue to discuss return-to-play logistics. But here in mid-May, there is still no clarity of when the NHL might resume its season, if at all.
So Morehouse announced the team's "extremely difficult" decisions Monday.
"They are necessary for us to endure this crisis, and to be able to resume our position as one of the best teams in sports whenever hockey returns," he said in the statement. "My hope is that hockey will resume in the relatively near future, and that we will be back operating with an increased staff."
The Penguins have created an employee assistance fund for affected employees facing economic hardships. The organization's human resources department is offering assistance with filing for unemployment and other matters.
