100 NC workers lose jobs after Walmart ends contract – Business North Carolina

South Florida-based T-ROC will layoff 100 employees who worked inside Walmart stores across the state at the end of the month after the retail giant terminated its wireless sales program with the company.

T-ROC operated as a “store within a store,” and 84 of its 100 employees being let go are classified as “wireless specialists.”

“Although this official notification is less than the 60-day period under WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification), more advance notice was not possible; prior to the final decision on non-renewal, T-ROC was actively engaged in negotiations for a renewal of the agreement,” states the notice the Coral Gables-based company filed with the state.

T-ROC has filed similar WARN notices in other states in the past few days, including 302 layoffs in Florida and more than 150 layoffs in Alabama.

Bumping rights do not exist. However, T-ROC reported to the state it has “secured positions for the majority of the affected employees with the companies” taking over the Walmart contracts.

“After many successful projects together, this particular program reached its end date, and it was mutually agreed upon by both parties to not continue,” T-ROC said in a statement. “However, T-ROC continues to provide multiple services to this client, maintaining a strong partnership that has spanned over 15 years.”

T-ROC has other “projects, partners and employees in North Carolina,” according to the company, but it did not provide specific information. Arkansas-based Walmart did not respond to questions seeking comment.

T-ROC says that affected employees will be paid per their regular work schedule through the May 31 program end date.

On its website, T-ROC describes a successful relationship with Walmart, where its employees would provide staffing, consultation and program management. T-ROC says after success operating in a single store, Walmart allowed 445 T-ROC employees to work in 190 stores, numbers that grew over three years to more than 1,300 locations and 3,400 employees. 

T-ROC listed more than two dozen Walmart stores where its employees worked, mostly in the Raleigh metro area and east.