After the recent takeover of London's Evening Standard by Russian billionaire and former KGB agent Alexander Lebedev and a subsequent change of editors, its employees fear a round of layoffs, as the newspaper industry reels under the recession.

On 21 January it was announced that Lebedev had bought a 74.9-per cent stake in the newspaper from its previous owners, Daily Mail & General Trust, for a nominal sum, reported to be as little as one pound. DMGT, which also owns the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday, will continue to hold a 25.1-per cent stake in the Standard. (See: Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev buys London's Evening Standard newspaper)

The change in ownership has been accompanied with a change of editors. Tatler's Geordie Greig is slated to take over from Veronica Wadely, who has already resigned after seven years as editor of the Evening Standard. She leaves the paper with an average net circulation of 294,337 for the six months July to December 2008, up 3.04 per cent on the same period in 2007.

Wadely is believed to have been kept in the dark about the impending deal, and has not attended office since it was announced. Greig's appointment, however, is contingent on the sale being completed this month. Meanwhile the paper is being edited by Andrew Burdiss, currently deputy editor. Wadley may remain with DMGT in a consultancy role.

Lebedev and his son Evgeny have set up a new company, Evening Standard Ltd, to run the newspaper. The Russian oligarch has not confirmed job cuts or redundancy terms, and sources close to him say that speculations about redundancy terms are no more than scare stories.

Nonetheless, Standard journalists believe he will offer far less generous terms than those typically granted by DMGT. There have been reports of a cap of £12,000 on the amount payable to an employee. They also fear their new owners will insist that staff see out their contracts. Most companies allow workers to leave immediately, with their notice period paid in full.

By law, employees can expect a minimum of one week's pay for each year of service up to 20 years. Under government legislation, a week's pay is limited to £350. This gives a cap of £7,000. It is standard for newspaper proprietors, however, to offer a month or four weeks' salary for every year worked, although many place limits on any lump sum received.

DMGT typically offers two weeks for every year worked, with no upper limit. When the Telegraph Media Group made dozens redundant soon after it was bought by David and Frederick Barclay, owners of Shop Direct Group, which acquired Woolsworths and plans to take its sales online, redundancy payouts were capped at 18 months' salary.

Journalists who agreed to leave quickly were offered an additional payment of up to three months' salary. (See: Closed British retailer Woolworths to be reborn online)

Guardian News & Media, the parent company of The Guardian, offers staff who take redundancy four weeks' pay for each year of service, capped at £95,000. When news agency Thomson let journalists go last year, they were offered one month for every year with no limit, and some walked away with well over £100,000. Thomson merged with Reuters, which used a complex formula to calculate redundancy payouts, but some of its staff received six weeks' pay for each year, also with no cap.

The Financial Times, owned by Pearson, places a £100,000 limit on payouts. The Daily Express offers two weeks for every year worked, without limit.

Lebedev is promising to invest millions to guarantee the survival of the loss-making newspaper, but has yet to disclose a business plan for the Standard. He is also looking to appoint a high-profile editorial and advisory board, including Tony Blair and Mikhail Gorbachev.