The Parramatta Eels have reduced their continuing payroll costs by 75 per cent, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

The report states that the the club's remaining staff have accepted up to a 50 per cent pay cut while the NRL is suspended.

60 people are employed by the Eels' football department, with the majority being stood down with the option to take leave entitlements. Among those is head coach Brad Arthur, who is continuing to watch the welfare of his staff and players while on leave.

It is a similar situation around the NRL, as clubs cut costs to ensure their survival during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Due to this, a handful of staff are continuing to work after having "volunteered to accept a large salary reduction". These include chief executive Jim Sarontinos, general manager of football Mark O’Neill and head of commercial Andrew Mikhail.

In a message to Eels' members, chairman Sean McElduff said the cuts were taken to ensure the  “principal objective of surviving to compete at a later date.”

“When we return there may be changes to our total cost structure and that is something that we will work through with other stakeholders like the RLPA and the NRL over the next three months,” McElduff wrote

"This week was a very difficult and challenging time for your club. Most likely no different to the situation that most (if not all) of you experienced over the past few weeks …

“To avoid any confusion, I wanted to clarify Brad’s situation during this period. Brad has been stood down along with the vast majority of our football department staff but like others, he will be taking his annual leave entitlement but deferring his long service leave entitlement.

“Like so many in our club (staff and players), Brad is also making a large sacrifice because he has offered to continue to work during his leave period to ensure that our players are well prepared when they return. This approach was discussed and agreed with Brad and is the best way to manage our business during this period.”
The Eels had a strong start of the season, winning both of their matches and sitting on top of the NRL ladder. Club officials hope these measures will ensure the club will survive to compete in the future.

“We have a number of challenges facing the club during the next few months, not least the wellbeing of our players and staff,” McElduff said.

“It has been a priority of ours to ensure there are a range of services available for our people through our welfare team to ensure they are supported during the next few months".

“Looking after our people and working hard to support you - our members, fans and commercial partners - will be critical to our success.

“The approach outlined above, provides the club with the best possible opportunity to reach our goal of hitting the ground running when the competition starts again.”