PL Developments cuts 114 jobs at Piedmont plant, adds others

Changes at a Piedmont medicine manufacturing facility will result in 114 job losses, although the company says those employees will have a chance to secure more than 50 positions created by a new shift.

PL Developments said in a statement the result will be greater output from the site by adding four operating hours.

Companies operating in South Carolina are subject to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires them to file a WARN form that gives 60 days notice of plant closings or mass layoffs.

“Under the WARN regulations, eliminating a shift technically required us to send the WARN notice,” the company said in an email sent by Charles Cain, general counsel and chief administrative officer from the company’s headquarters in Westbury, N.Y.  “While this scheduling change did unfortunately affect 114 positions, we are offering those affected more than 50 positions on the new third shift. We also gave the requisite 60-day notice to all affected employees and are continuing to pay them during this period.”

The WARN notice was published with others on the SC Works website, which led to some misinformation and speculation about the future of the plant, he said, adding that the company is committed to the Piedmont site.

“The WARN notice related to the restructuring of job schedules at this facility,” the email said. “We are changing from two 10-hour shifts four days a week (M-T) with a three-day weekend shift of 12 hours each, by eliminating the weekend shift and adding a third shift during the week. The facility will now operate on a five-day (M-F) schedule, with three eight-hour shifts each day.

“The reason for this change is to increase plant capacity (we added four more operating hours each week), and to reduce machine downtime.  We remain very committed to the Old Griffin Road facility and to the Piedmont, S.C., region.”

Cain said the job scheduling change did not affect any of the company’s other location in the state. PL Developments operates two distribution centers in Duncan, one on Tyger River Drive and another at 417 Apple Valley Road.

The facility at 513 Old Griffin Road in Piedmont manufactures and packages a variety of over-the-counter consumer health care products.