Betting GC Takes Pay Deferral To Avoid Company Layoffs
The GC has called for other company senior management to consider making the same move.
April 23, 2020 at 11:10 AM
3 minute read
Kambi
The general counsel at sports betting and technology provider Kambi, Chris Fox, has taken a pay deferral along with other members of the company's executive board, in an attempt to avoid layoffs across the company.
Fox will take a 10% pay deferral and said the decision was discussed at board level and agreed across senior management, with the initiative led by Kambi's CEO.
"We all agreed with the intention behind it – to try and avoid redundancies", Fox said.
The group may also take a pay cut after the effectiveness of the deferral has been assessed.
Kambi operates in Europe, Asia and Latin America. Fox said that with many sports events currently barred from going ahead amid the COVID-19 pandemic, revenue at the company has taken a hit.
Fox argues that other GCs should also consider accepting pay cuts for the sake of their employees, highlighting that it is a "difficult ethical position".
"The senior leadership team is responsible for the staff. If you're making redundancies because of cost control but you aren't mitigating this either symbolically or in practice through pay cuts, then it's a difficult consideration," he explained.
Earlier in April, the legal head at betting conglomerate GVC, Michael Leadbeater, criticised the concept of top law firms protecting partner drawings at the expense of their junior staff.
He said the company would reconsider its relationships with firms if partners were found to be "offloading the risk and the price" of the COVID-19 outbreak onto its more junior lawyers and non-fee-earning colleagues via furlough schemes or redundancies.
Several law firms have initiated or are considering pay cuts and deferrals, as well as staff furlough schemes, to weather the financial impact of the global crisis.
Addleshaw Goddard, Reed Smith, Norton Rose Fulbright and Dentons were among the latest firms to take similar decisions earlier this month.
General counsel at betting group GVC Holdings, Michael Leadbeater, told Legal Week he would reconsider his relationships with firms if partners were found to be "offloading the risk and the price" of COVID-19 onto its more junior lawyers and non-fee-earning colleagues via furlough schemes or redundancies.
Read More:
Crown Estate GC 'Calling Out' Lawyers for Working Late
GVC Legal Head Warns Firms Against Cutting Staff to Protect Partners
Norton Rose Staff Approve Four Day Week As More Firms Slash Partner Pay, Furlough Staff
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