More furloughs for LANG

LANG employees will have to endure yet another round of furloughs. Fred Hamilton, CEO and publisher of the nine-newspaper chain, sent a memo today telling employees that they must take 5 unpaid furlough days between May 16 and July 2. LANGers will also stop accruing vacation between these dates.

For Hamilton to hastily order furloughs to be taken over such a short period of time indicates just how much pressure the company must be under to boost its bottom line before the end of the fiscal year (June 30). Indeed, Hamilton says in the same memo that LANG employees will be able to take an additional 5 paid holidays in the next fiscal year to make up for the short-term pain.

This leads me to wonder if this dramatic, last-minute action is related to a possible deal to buy the Orange County Register. LANG's parent company, MediaNews Group, is in a bidding war with the Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times, to buy the Register.

It's also likely the chain is simply trying avoid further layoffs, given the revenue demands of some of its investor owners, who agreed to swallow $765 million of debt as MediaNews emerged from bankruptcy last year. The furloughs and vacation freeze come a week after layoffs at the Long Beach Press-Telegram. Hamilton said the latest actions should keep future pink slips to a trickle:

...today's action does not preclude other cost reduction measures including and not limited to reductions-in-force. At this time such actions will likely be limited and will continue to be an expense reduction alternative until the economy and our performance measurably improves.

As expressed in the past, we regret any inconvenience this action may cause you but until our financial challenges are clearly behind us, such actions are necessary.

The full memo is here.

(This post was edited)

Furloughs and a vacation freeze for LANG papers

Employees in the Los Angeles Newspaper Group's nine papers learned today that they will be once again lose vacation time and be forced to take unpaid furloughs days as part of an effort to cut costs.

Fred Hamilton, CEO and publisher of LANG, sent a memo today outlining the details. The vacation freeze starts today and will last until March 2011. For employees who earn two weeks of vacation a year, the freeze will cost them 3 days of vacation. It's 6 days for those earning four weeks per year.

The furloughs begin in January. Employees will be forced to take ten days off by mid March. Furlough days are unpaid unless employees choose to use up vacation time - a tough choice considering the freeze.

Hamilton blames lower than expected advertising revenues for the cuts. The memo does not mention layoffs, although Hamilton said some vacancies will remain unfilled and he alluded to consolidations, which could refer to a recent decision to merge the business departments of LANG and its sister chain in the north, the Bay Area News Group - some say the merger could result in the loss of 40 jobs. Hamilton ends the memo by saying said he regrets taking these actions, but warns of more drastic cuts if ad sales do not improve.

Brother, can you spare some sick time?

With flu season here and fears the H1N1 strain will make it worse than usual, the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group has asked employees to donate vacation time to anyone who has burned through his or her sick days. Here's part of the memo:

Employees may donate accrued vacation time for the benefit of a fellow employee who is not covered under the company's sick time benefit or for a fellow employee who had already exhausted all of his/her sick time. Please contact Human Resources for further details on this program.

The charitable urge might be dampened a bit by the fact that the parent company, LANG, has spent the last year cutting employee vacation benefits to save money. In April, management instituted a six-month vacation freeze, meaning no one could accrue additional time off. With the freeze still on, the company ordered employees to use a week's worth of vacation to further draw down accounts.

LANG to unfreeze vacation time

Because of cost cuts, employees of the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, a division of Dean Singleton's MediaNews Group, have had their vacation time frozen in place since April. That state of affairs will come to an end on October 1.

An exec with LANG's San Gabriel Valley papers sent the following email:

As you know, the company suspended vacation accruals the past several months as part of an effort to control expenses in a tough economic environment. I appreciate the effort and sacrifice everyone has made in this regard, and am happy to report that we are on track toward meeting those financial objectives. I am even happier to report that as of Oct. 1, vacation accruals will be restored. Again, thank you for everything you are doing to fortify our business and, as evident in our superb coverage of the ongoing wildfires, for continuing to make the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group a benchmark of excellence.

In addition to the hold on vacation accrual, LANGers have faced two rounds of furloughs - one completely unpaid, the other designed to dry up remaining vacation time.

More furloughs at MediaNews*

All LANG employees will be forced to take five days off between now and the end of September - those with vacation time will be able to collect vacation pay; those without will be forced to take an unpaid furlough.

From the memo:

For those with 40 or more hours in their vacation bank, simply take a week of vacation. Because we are heading into the summer months when most people utilize their vacation time, this option should prove to have little or no impact on the majority of employees.

For those with less than 40 hours in their vacation bank, you can do a combination of both options. An example for a full-time employee who works 40 hours per week; you have 24 hours accrued vacation, you can use your three vacation days PLUS take two unpaid furlough days to equal the total five-day requirement.

For those with little or no vacation hours in their vacation bank, you will need to take unpaid furlough equaling five days. Non-exempt employees have the option of spreading their furlough days over several pay periods or they may take all of the time off within a one-week period. It is up to you, but the time must be taken by September 26.

Exempt employees who do not have the equivalent of five days’ vacation in their vacation bank do not have the option of combining vacation with furlough. If you are exempt, and do not have at least one week of vacation, you must take a week of furlough. Your week of furlough must be taken at one time (all within the same week), and you cannot perform any work during that week. This requirement may not apply to some sales positions, so if you are in advertising sales, please see your manager for guidance.

(Read the complete memo here.)

LANG also plans to extend a vacation freeze instituted last April, which means employees won't be able to accrue anymore vacation time until at least the end of September.

When LANG, which is a division of Dean Singleton's MediaNews Group, first announced the vacation freeze, it encouraged employees to use their vacation days as soon as possible. Those who heeded that advice are probably regretting it.

*Update: MediaNews Group also sent out a press release today to knock down rumors that the company was considering a bankruptcy filing. The company says it is negotiating its debt with lenders, but adds that: "Proposals to the company's lenders do not include a change in control of the company, nor do they include proposals for any bankruptcy filings, as the rumors suggest."

It pays to win

Ever wonder what the Obama campaign is going to do with all that money leftover from it's fund-raising? So did Simon Owens and here's what he found:

An Obama staffer I’ve spoken to just received this email:

"our contributor’s incredible outpouring of support has allowed us to offer all full time salaried staff hired on or before September 6th four additional weeks of severance pay."