Troubled Valley farming giant Prima Wawona issued a WARN Act notice as part of its bankruptcy proceedings, preparing thousands of employees to be out of their jobs.
The notice was sent to the local governments in Fresno, Tulare and Kings counties.
The backstory: Prima Wawona, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last October, has announced plans to liquidate after rejecting a $275 million credit bid last month.
The big picture: The WARN Act – Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act – requires employees that have at least 100 employees to notify them 60 days in advance of planned layoffs.
- Prima Wawona sent notices to over 5,290 employees that they may be terminated by March 12.
- The vast majority of employees who are facing layoffs are seasonal workers as the WARN Act notice identified 5,290 seasonal jobs.
- That includes 3,743 seasonal employees who are currently not working who will not be recalled.
- Prima Wawona issued the WARN Act notice for 121 full-time positions that are facing job cuts. The largest group of full-time employees are managers (40), while other positions include accountants, directors, sales representatives and supervisors, among others.
