Miller’s Ale House notified the state April 9 it furloughed almost 1,600 employees at 18 locations in Florida, including 245 at three of its six Northeast Florida restaurants.
It has not closed the restaurants.
“The planned action is supposed to be temporary. The entire store is not being closed at this time,” wrote Patti Nash, vice president of human resources for Miller’s Ale House in Orlando.
Miller’s Ale House furloughed the hourly employees effective March 21 and managers effective March 29.
The state did not post notices for three other Jacksonville restaurants as of 7:30 p.m. April 23.
In Northeast Florida, Miller’s Ale House told the state it furloughed 102 employees at the Southside restaurant at 9711 Deer Lake Court; 78 at the Avenues location at 10334 Southside Blvd.; and 65 at the Orange Park store at 1756 Wells Road.
Patti Nash, vice president of human resources for Miller’s Ale House in Orlando, addressed the letters to the Florida Department of Economic Development.
The letters constituted notice under the Federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act and related Department of Labor regulations.
Not included as of April 23 on the state WARN site were Miller’s Ale House locations in Mandarin, Regency and at Hodges Boulevard.
All six area restaurants remain open with carryout, curbside and delivery.
Miller’s Ale House also sent letters for locations in Central, Southeast and Southwest Florida.
“The employees have been and will be furloughed given the extreme business circumstances the Company is faced with,” Nash wrote.
Affected positions include general, restaurant and kitchen managers; bar staff; bussers; cooks; hosts; prep cooks; dishwashers; servers; and quality assurance employees.
Nash wrote that the company was unable to give additional notice “given the unforeseeable circumstances suddenly and unexpectedly facing the Company in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“It is providing the notice practicable under the circumstances,” she concluded.