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Delaware North announces temporary leave for majority of full-time employees, other steps in response to business impact

Employees on leave to receive one week of pay, eight weeks of medical benefits


BUFFALO, N.Y. (March 25, 2020) – Delaware North has and continues to take the threat of COVID-19 very seriously and has taken actions advised by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help ensure the health and safety of guests and employees.
 
The spread of COVID-19 has forced the closure of nearly every one of Delaware North’s more than 200 operating locations in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia – including sports and entertainment venues, restaurants, casinos, and parks. Our airport locations are continuing to operate, but only at a greatly reduced scale.
 
In the early days of the pandemic, Delaware North took immediate emergency actions to stabilize the financial outlook, including restricting business travel and delaying ongoing projects. Now the company, along with many others in the hospitality industry, is absorbing ongoing financial losses as a result of government directives appropriately aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19.
 
Because of the sheer size of the company’s workforce and the uncertainty over when the crisis will subside, Delaware North CEOs Jerry Jacobs Jr., Lou Jacobs and Charlie Jacobs have made the agonizing but unavoidable decision to place more than two-thirds of the company’s 3,100 full-time employees on temporary leave.
 
Great attention was given to ensuring that full-time employees will continue to receive their medical, dental and vision benefits for eight weeks and a full week of pay for the first week on leave. The company’s greatly reduced full-time workforce staying on is doing so at a reduced rate of pay. In addition, thousands of frontline part-time employees are now no longer being scheduled for work as a result of the shuttered operations.
 
Delaware North is taking these temporary steps to ensure the company’s long-term success. The Jacobs family and Delaware North hope the crisis will be short-lived and greatly appreciate the talented and passionate employees who have made the company successful and hope they remain healthy and safe.
 
About Delaware North
Delaware North is one of the largest privately held hospitality and entertainment companies in the world. Founded in 1915 and owned by the Jacobs family for more than 100 years, Delaware North has global operations at high-profile places such as sports and entertainment venues, national and state parks, destination resorts and restaurants, airports, and regional casinos. Our 55,000 employee associates are dedicated to creating special experiences one guest at a time in serving more than a half-billion guests annually. Delaware North operates in the sports, travel hospitality, restaurant and catering, parks, resorts, gaming, and specialty retail industries and has annual revenue of about $3.7 billion. Learn more about Delaware North at www.DelawareNorth.com.