With fewer than 100 customers per day, Dynasty Theater in Taipei yesterday announced that it would be closing for three months starting on May 4.
The theater playing second-run films near the Minquan W Road MRT Station is to undergo renovations in hopes of providing better services when it reopens in three to four months, it said in a notice on its Web site.
Dynasty has seen its viewership decline 80 percent before the COVID-19 pandemic, said the theater manager, surnamed Hsu (許).
Photo: Tsai Ya-hua, Taipei Times
Its equipment is aging since its first renovation eight years ago and now is a good time to refurbish its two auditoriums, Hsu said.
An employee working at the theater said on condition of anonymity that it was difficult for the theater to hold out as long as it did with fewer than 100 customers per day.
Customers can return pre-bought tickets at the counter if they do not want wait until the renovations are completed, Hsu said.
The theater would apply with the Taipei City Government for subsidies to pay its employees, allowing them to retain their job and return to work immediately upon completion of the renovation, Hsu said.
Another theater employee said that while she supported the decision, the theater had not clearly thought out plans for its employees during the three-month hiatus, adding that she would be forced to look for another job.
Taipei Department of Labor section head Shih Chen-su (施貞夙) said that companies are obligated to inform employees ahead of time if they plan to close temporarily, sell the business or downsize.
This concerns severance fees and what arrangements the company has made for laid-off employees, Shih said.
By law, companies must also inform the department within 10 days of its decision, but the department has yet to receive any notice from Dynasty Theater, Shih said.
The department will look into the matter to understand where the company is in terms of operational management, as well as what arrangements it has made for its employees, Shih said.
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