A Russell Stover Candies facility in Montrose will lay off 150 employees come April, according to the Kansas City, Mo.-based company.
The employees, all part of the factory’s 3-to-11 p.m. shift, are part of a temporary mass layoff, said Robinn Weber, senior vice president of human resources.
“We chose to do this to ensure that our production can work as efficiently as possible,” he said.
Weber said the jobs could return but it would be longer than six months before that might happen. If that occurs before six months, laid-off employees would be given preference for their jobs, but if it occurs after six months those employees don’t have any guarantees of getting their jobs back.
The company told the employees, the mayor and the state about the upcoming changes at the plant, which has 480 workers and produces boxed chocolates.
The notification was based on the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, Weber said. The act requires companies to reveal factory closings and layoffs of at least 50 employees for six months or more at least 60 days in advance.
Elizabeth Aguilera: 303-954-1372 or eaguilera @denverpost
