LAZ Parking implements temporary layoffs, asks for gov’t aid amid coronavirus impact

HBJ Photo | Joe Cooper A LAZ Parking garage at 41 Lewis St. in downtown Hartford.

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By Sean Teehan

As demand for parking ebbs in Connecticut and across the country amid the stay-at-home policies implemented by numerous states in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Hartford-based LAZ Parking announced it has temporarily reduced its workforce, it said.

"LAZ has also notified its employees that a percentage of its workforce will be temporarily reduced at this time with the intention of being rehired once the crisis subsides and business rebounds," the company said in a statement.

Alan Lazowski, the company's owner and CEO, also said on Friday those who remain on the job are following guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as state and local health officials around the country in sanitizing thousands of locations across 423 cities.

Amid layoffs, the company also announced LAZ's founding partners will not take any pay for at least 90 days, and have established a $1 million employee relief fund. Lazowski also called for government aid.

"We are asking that the federal government provide relief to the parking industry and our temporarily reduced workforce and pay as close to 100% of employees' wages during the layoff period," Lazowski said. "We are optimistic that the federal government will do the right thing."