When the Jets dumped 30 employees only days after their playoff run ended, the team didn’t link the job losses to the looming lockout.
In the next wave of adverse employment actions, the Jets won’t even try to call it something other than what it is.
Daniel Kaplan of SportsBusiness Journal reports that the Jets will being placing employees on furlough, if a new labor deal with the NFLPA isn’t reached by March 4.
Jets executive V.P. of business operations Matt Higgins said that employees in business operations will be required to take a one-week, unpaid leave of absence every month until a new labor deal is negotiated. Employees on the football side will be safe at least until after the draft, in late April.
That said, the Jets also plan to reimburse the employees for their lost income, if no games are lost due to a work stoppage. Of course, with Higgins pointing out that the furloughed employees will be entitled to unemployment compensation, any employees who pocket their reimbursements without also reimbursing the unemployment agency could be in even hotter water with the unemployment office than a certain would-be employee of Vandelay Industries.