Some of the 192 laid-off employees at The San Diego Union-Tribune will be leaving the company more than six weeks ahead of schedule.
Laid-off workers began receiving form letters today telling them that their last day will be Friday, instead of July 6, as was initially announced. The employees will still be paid through July 6.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many laid-off employees will leave the paper on Friday nor was it clear if some will be allowed to stay on past this week. It’s also not known what will happen to projects that employees are working on.
The Union-Tribune laid off 192 employees, or 18 percent of its staff, on May 7, just days after new owners took over operations.
Under law, the newspaper had to give the employees two-months’ notice because there were so many of them. Initially, the paper required the employees to continue working until July 6; they will also receive severance pay.
According to a form letter received by a newsroom employee, nothing has changed except the final day of work.