Augusta Sportswear announces layoffs affecting 200 workers

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SIDNEY – Augusta Sportswear announced it has temporarily shut down its plant in Sidney, a move that will affect all of the plant’s approximately 200 employees.

In a notice sent to the Ohio Department of Jobs & Family Services, Augusta Sportswear said its plant would close for an indefinite period of time effective March 24 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the state’s stay at home order for non-essential business.

“We are doing this due to unforeseen business circumstances in order to comply with the Ohio Department of Health’s Stay at Home Order issued on March 22, 2020,” wrote Julie Manning, the company’s senior director of corporate human resources.

At the end of the shutdown, the sportswear manufacturer anticipates recalling the majority of its affected workers.

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988, the WARN Act, requires employers with 100 or more employees to provide at least 60 calendar days advance written notice of a plant closing and mass layoffs affecting 50 or more employees at a single site of employment.

The act makes exceptions to the requirements due to unforeseeable circumstances. Companies have cited the coronavirus pandemic and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s stay at home order for non-essential business as unforeseen circumstances.

Augusta Sportswear is one of dozens of Ohio businesses that have laid off workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ross Casting & Innovation reported layoffs affecting 167 employees in Sidney, Gissing North America reported layoffs affecting 120 employees in Sidney, and Norcold Inc. reported layoffs affecting 224 of its 265 employees in Sidney and 121 of its 137 employees in Gettysburg.

By Kyle Shaner

[email protected]

Reach this writer at [email protected] or 937-538-4824.

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