Fox Implements Summer Days Off Amid Uncertainty From Drawn-Out Acquisition

Fox employees have been through a lot the last six months but now there is something for them to cheer about — extra time off this summer. Various Fox divisions have added four days off for staffers to take through Labor Day.

I hear no official explanation for the new policy has been given but the move would likely help boost the morale of those working on the Fox lot who have been caught in the middle of a corporate power play, with two congloms, Disney and Comcast, in a heated bidding war to acquire a slew of marquee Fox assets, including the TV and film studio and FX Networks.

There had been a timetable for Disney to complete the acquisition, which is expected to result in some layoffs on both sides, though that timetable has been disrupted by Comcast’s aggressive move to snatch the Fox assets.

I hear within the Fox Networks Group, under chairman and CEO Peter Rice, employees could take four Fridays off this summer. On the film side, under 20th Century Fox chairman and CEO Stacey Snider, who had championed such a policy for awhile, staffers have four flex days — four full or eight half-days — added to their vacation time to use this summer.

While this is the first time the program has been introduced at Fox on the TV side and first or second on the film side, summer Fridays have traditionally been a popular perk around Hollywood. Warner Bros. and HBO employees — while part of Time Warner — have had the option for half-day summer Fridays for years. Divisions of NBCUniversal also are known to have employed summer hours, along with many talent agencies.