Employees fired by Disneyland last Friday have been offered extra compensation beyond legal requirements, but they were told by Disneyland that they would need to sign a non-disclosure form first, Apple Daily reported.
The amusement park had said that employees who were laid off would not have their long service and severance payments deducted from their entitlement under the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF), a compulsory retirement savings scheme. They will also receive severance payments higher than those required by labour laws.
Laid off employees were asked to sign a non-disclosure form, which stipulated terms that they will not speak to anyone about the details of their termination and that they will not seek claims or lodge complaints to the company, a source said. The source also told Apple Daily that if the form was not signed, the severance and long service payments would be deducted from their MPF. Disneyland also reserves the right to sue if the employee violates the agreement.
The layoffs come after the park reported a loss of HK$148 million for last year. Almost 100 workers are affected. The loss is the first since 2012, when the park began making a profit.
According to latest figures released by the Hong Kong Tourism Board, there was a 20.5 percent decline in visitor numbers for the month of February compared with last year, when 5,405,689 tourists visited Hong Kong. This year, 4,295,731 visited the city. There was also a 26 percent decline in mainland tourists: 4,551,825 last February, compared with 3,367,736 this February.
