Beach hotels extend furloughs for workers
August 19, 2020 - The Beachcomber and the Grand Plaza Hotel in St. Pete Beach are extending furloughs for their workers. Both hotels, operated by Benchmark Global Hospitality, had furloughed employees in March, hoping the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on their operations would be short-lived, but continued restrictions have had a severe impact on their businesses, they indicated in separate Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications sent to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. At the Grand Plaza Hotel, 94 employees are impacted by the extended furloughs, while 38 employees of the Beachcomber are affected.