A total of 93 people will be laid off from Absolut Care in Westfield in October.

WESTFIELD – The number of individuals who are being laid off from the closing of a local nursing home has increased.

According to the state Worker Adjustment and Retaining Notification website, RCA Server at Westfield will be laying off 93 people from 26 Cass St., Westfield. That is the address of Absolut Care in Westfield.

The layoffs are scheduled to take effect on Oct. 20.

Originally the Living Legends group, which runs Absolut Care, said there would be about 75 people laid off.

The layoffs are apparently due to an expiring lease. “Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, irreconcilable differences prevented us from reaching an agreement. Because of this uncertainty, we delayed making any announcements until negotiations were complete, as we strive to communicate transparently with our employees and residents,” officials with Living Legends said last month.

According to Chautauqua County Public Health Director Lacey Wilson, long-term and skilled facilities are directly under the guidance and authority of the New York State Department of Health, so the county is not involved in assisting in relocating the residents there.

Dana Corwin, the director of the county Office for the Aging said they have not been directly involved in helping relocating residents either, although they have received a few calls from people looking for some guidance.

The New York State Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires covered businesses to provide early warnings of closures and layoffs to all affected employees, their representatives, the Department of Labor and others.

This is the first layoff listed in Chautauqua County since the closure of six Rite Aids. The six stores combined for the layoffs of 63 people. The stores were located in Jamestown, Silver Creek, Dunkirk, Fredonia, West Ellicott, and Mayville.

Combining Rite Aid and Absolut Care, there have officially been 156 employees affected countywide.

A New York business must issue a WARN notice for mass layoffs or plant closings if the event affects a specified number of employees.

– Any plant closing that affects 50 or more full-time employees.

– A layoff of 250 or more full-time employees.

– A layoff of 50 or more full-time employees, if this represents 33% or more of the total full-time workforce at the site.

Serta Simmons Bedding in Falconer has announced it will be closing its operations at the Mason Industrial Park. The company has apparently not yet submitted the number of employees to the state that are being laid off.

State Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, said in a news release last week that it would affect upwards of 80 individuals.