Bethesda Country Club has furloughed 128 employees after closing last month because of the coronavirus pandemic, its general manager said Monday afternoon.
The club, at 7601 Bradley Blvd., closed on March 16 after Gov. Larry Hogan issued an executive order closing all bars and restaurants for sit-down service, and banning all large social and recreational gatherings of 50 people or more. Restaurants can continue to serve through takeout and delivery.
General Manager and Chief Operating Officer Saeed Assadzandi said in an interview Monday that at that point, the club sent its employees home, but paid them for two weeks.
“As soon as the restaurants closed, we had no idea it was going to last. So since restaurants were closed, we informed all of our staff to stay home for the next two weeks until we had further information,” Assadzandi said.
But Assadzandi said that when Hogan issued his stay-at-home order on March 30 that restricted travel to essential trips only, the club was forced to furlough the 128 workers.
“When the stay-at-home order came on the 30th, we realized there was no end date and from that point, we realized from a business standpoint we couldn’t continue paying them,” he said.
Assadzandi said that the employees will be called back to work when the club reopens. He said they will not be paid retroactively because the club can’t afford to do so.
The club, Assadzandi said, is not eligible for financial relief under the $2 trillion-plus stimulus package passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump last month in response to the pandemic.
The legislation’s paycheck protection gives forgiveable loans to qualifying small businesses that allow them to keep workers employed. But Bethesda Country Club is classified as a 501(c)7, or “social club,” under the Internal Revenue Code, Assadzandi explained. These types of clubs, he said, are excluded from the paycheck protection part of the stimulus program.
The furloughed employees, Assadzandi said, include golf operations workers, as well as those who work in the tennis facilities and the club restaurant. It includes both full-time and part-time staff, he said.
Some workers, such as the maintenance staff and some accounting and administrative workers, have remained employed, Assadzandi said, but the 128 who are furloughed represent the majority.
“It’s one of the hardest things we’ve ever had to do here,” he said.
Furloughs have also been occurring at other country clubs in Montgomery County.
A donation page was started on March 28 to raise money for workers at Manor Country Club in Rockville who have been furloughed. The page has raised more than $156,000.
At Lakewood Country Club in Rockville, CEO Mac Niven said Tuesday night that the club had to furlough 56 workers within the past week or two. The workers, he said, include a mix of full-time and part-time workers.
Lakewood closed its golf course to golfers on March 30 following Hogan’s stay-at-home order, although walkers are still allowed, Niven said. The club’s restaurant also continues to serve carryout, he said.
There are about 40 workers still employed, Niven said.
“We still are able to maintain the golf course and our horticultural activities. We are doing to-go food, so we’ve kept some staff on hand. But there’s no question we’ve had to furlough some folks.”
Niven said the employees will be called back to work when the club reopens. He said he doesn’t anticipate they will be paid retroactively.
Dan Schere can be reached at daniel.schere@moco360.media
