Armstrong Flooring could lay off up to 606 employees 

Armstrong Flooring could permanently lay off up to 606 employees from its Lancaster County facilities if it is unable to sell the company or if positions are eliminated by way of a sale. 

The Lancaster flooring manufacturer and designer filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) through the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry on Friday, alerting the department of 606 possible layoffs. 

WARN notices must be filed with the state department by any business with more than 100 employees that plans to lay off or furlough workers. Employers are generally required to provide a notice to workers, unions and the department 60 days in advance of any layoffs. 

“Armstrong Flooring was required through the WARN Act to provide conditional notice to all employees whose positions will be eliminated if the company’s sale process is unsuccessful or if the ultimate buyer does not want to take on some or all of our current employees,” said a company spokesperson. “These position eliminations could occur as early as June 17 to July 1, 2022.” 

In the WARN, John Bassett, chief human resources officer at Armstrong Flooring, wrote that Armstrong Flooring has received strong interest from prospective buyers, but has been unable to enter into a definitive agreement with any prospective buyers prior to deadlines imposed by lenders. 

Armstrong Flooring is currently looking to auction its assets in a competitive bidding period next month and is awaiting approval on a motion it has filed with a Delaware bankruptcy court.  

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early May and will be operating on borrowed money from lenders Pathlight Capital and Bank of America, in anticipation of a sale. 

The company said in its statement that it is working hard to not need to follow through with the WARN. 

“We are doing our best to keep our operations going and to avoid eliminating any positions,” said the company spokesperson. “The Company is continuing to operate uninterrupted throughout the Chapter 11 process, with the focus of pursuing an efficient and value-maximizing sale of its business through a competitive Chapter 11 sale process.” 

The layoffs would affect employees located at the company’s Lancaster locations at 1067 Dillerville Road, 1215 Loop Road and 1770 Hempstead Road.