"I need to act swiftly and take steps now to ensure that we, as a club, can weather this storm," says Ann Budge in statement
Thursday 19 March 2020 11:55, UK
Hearts players and staff have been asked to take a 50 per cent wage cut to help them get through the coronavirus outbreak.
The club's owner Ann Budge told staff everyone at the Scottish Premiership's bottom team must get behind the idea in order to safeguard the club's future.
It comes after she revealed on Monday that Hearts are set to miss out on £1million of income next month following the suspension of Scottish football last week.
A statement from Budge said: "We are living through unprecedented and challenging times at the moment. As you will appreciate, my priority is the health and well-being of our people.
"In addition to this, as chairman and CEO of the club, I must also do everything in my power to ensure that we keep our club safe and financially sound.
"The Scottish FA has now suspended football for the foreseeable future and, whilst there is no specified end date to this, it is most likely that the game will not resume until July/early August at the earliest.
"In addition, the latest Government measures regarding social distancing and restrictions on large gatherings mean that the impacts of this will be felt across our entire business.
"This reduction in income is not sustainable without taking immediate action to cut staff costs and overheads.
"As such, I need to act swiftly and take steps now to ensure that we, as a club, can weather this storm while trying to ensure we are ready to resume operations as and when we move into calmer waters and football restarts.
"I cannot achieve this without the full cooperation and support of all of our key stakeholders, namely staff, coaches, players and supporters.
"I cannot stress strongly enough that we need everyone to get behind the club to help us through this.
"In order to try to prevent a staff redundancy programme and to protect as many jobs as possible, I am proposing to implement a club-wide salary reduction programme.
"We have asked all full-time employees, managers, coaches, players and player backroom staff, with effect from the beginning of April, to accept a 50 per cent cut in their monthly salary."
Budge's plans will see a number of departments at Hearts close on a temporary basis, with those who are unable to accept the suggested reduction being offered contract termination instead.
The 72-year-old says there was no option but to propose such drastic measures, although the club's lowest-paid staff might find their cuts are not as significant.
Budge added: "No-one's full-time salary will fall below the Living Wage. If the 50 per cent reduction would take anyone's salary below this threshold, the full-time salary will be set at £18,135.
"Given the uncertainty of the whole situation with which we have been presented, we cannot say how long these measures will be in place. We will, of course, be continuously reviewing the situation.
"Staff and players alike, who feel unable or unwilling to accept this revision to their contracts, will, of course, be offered the option of contract termination.
"I want to assure everyone that these decisions have not been taken lightly.
"If I was not absolutely convinced that this is necessary for the future sustainability of our business, I would not be asking our employees to face these cuts.
"I thank you all and give you my personal assurance that I will do everything in my power to try to guide us safely through the next few months."
