SIDNEY – A temporary layoff will affect more than 200 employees at Advanced Composites in Sidney.

In a notice sent to the Ohio Department of Jobs & Family Services, Advanced Composites said approximately 210 employees will not be paid during the layoff, but they will continue to receive benefits. The first layoffs were to occur on April 13.

“These furlough/layoffs will continue indefinitely but are intended to be temporary and to be under six months,” Donna Barnes, general manager of human resources, wrote.

Barnes reported that Advanced Composites, a supplier for the automotive industry, is laying off employees because of COVID-19 related business circumstances that were unforeseeable.

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.

Advanced Composites joined a growing list of local companies that have laid off workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously, Augusta Sportswear reported layoffs affecting approximately 200 employees in Sidney, 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.