ST. LOUIS _ The parent company of Hardee's is laying off 24 people in downtown St. Louis in March as it closes the office and moves the fast-food restaurant chain's headquarters to Nashville, Tenn.
CKE Restaurants Holdings, the company headed by Labor Secretary nominee Andrew Puzder, announced in March 2016 that it planned to consolidate an office in Carpinteria, Calif., that houses the headquarters for its Carl's Jr. burger chain and a St. Louis office where Hardee's is based. Both chains are moving their headquarters to the Tennessee capital city.
Hardee's extended offers to relocate to Nashville to most of its employees, the company said in a letter to state officials: "The company has extended generous offers to most of the St. Louis workforce, and also is providing those who are not relocating with severance packages, health care continuation, retention bonuses and outplacement assistance."
In a layoff notice to Missouri officials, required by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, CKE said that 24 managers, administrative assistants and other corporate employees in its St. Louis office who did not accept relocation offers will be permanently laid off.
The WARN notice was published on the Missouri Department of Economic Development's website Tuesday.
Puzder, a former St. Louis lawyer, is the CEO of CKE Restaurants and President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to head the U.S. Department of Labor.
His confirmation hearing, originally scheduled for Thursday, is expected to be postponed _ perhaps until February, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.
Puzder lives in Franklin, Tenn., near Nashville.
