WARN Notices by State and Federal WARN Layoff Laws

WARN Notices by State

Typically, there are neither federal or state laws that require employers to provide advanced notice to employees before they are laid off. However, there are some exceptions. The most common layoff advance notice law is the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act). It requires employers to provide employees advanced notice to its workforce who will be impacted by a mass layoff due to a reduction if force (RIF), plant relocation, or plant closure. Most states do not have their own mass layoff notice laws, but instead comply with the federal WARN requirements through the US Department of Labor’s Rapid Response program.

In this article, the federal WARN layoff laws will be discussed and WARN notices by state will be provided. Also, there will be links to states and their general layoff laws including how soon employees must be paid after they are laid off.

Table Of Contents

Federal WARN Act
- What does the federal WARN law require?
- What are the penalties for violating the WARN Act?
- Does the WARN Act provide any exceptions to the notice requirements?
WARN Notices by State
Other Layoffs
Health Care Benefits and Layoffs

Federal WARN Act

The federal government has a notice requirement law that requires an employer to provide its employees with 60-days’ notice when it plans to go out of business or layoff a large number of them. The law is called the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act).

What does the federal WARN law require?

employees who have worked less than six (6) months in the last 12 months, and
employees who work an average of less than 20 hours a week.

Employers must provide the WARN notice to all employees, including managers, supervisors, and permanent and temporary employees. The notice may be provided by a reasonable method of delivery.

An employer must provide the required notice to full and part-time employees when its closes a plant or effectuates a mass layoff. The number of affected workers is the total number laid off during a 30 day (or in some cases 90 day) period.

A plant closing includes:

the closing of a facility for more than six (6) months,
the shut down of an operating unit for more than six (6) months, or
when 50 or more employees are laid off during any 30-day period at a single location.

A mass layoff occurs when a layoff, lasting at least six months, affects either:

500 or more workers. or
at least 33% of the workforce when the layoff affects between 50-499 employees.

What are the penalties for violating the WARN Act?

Employers that fail to properly notify employees of a plant closing or mass layoff may be subject to several different penalties. The employer’s liability and penalties include:

up to 60 days worth of back pay wages
up to $500 civil penalty for each day of the violation for failing to provide notice to the local government as required by WARN
courts can award reasonable attorney’s fees to the prevailing party

Does the WARN Act provide any exceptions to the notice requirements?

The federal WARN law does provide a few narrow exceptions to the 60-day notice requirement. These exceptions, which frequently arise when bankruptcy is an issue, include:

if there are unforeseeable business circumstances
the business is a faltering company which means that giving advanced notice may ruin the company’s chance of saving its business from going out of business
if there is a natural disaster

WARN Notices by State

Most states do not have their own layoff notice laws, but do operate rapid response offices that coordinate with the US Department of Labor’s state dislocated worker unit. Seven (7) states, California, Illinois, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Wisconsin, have enacted layoff notice laws similar to the WARN Act, often referred to as mini-WARN laws.

The table below lists the WARN Notices by State and outlines each state’s WARN requirements and a link to the state department responsible for receiving WARN notices and dealing with WARN Act issue.

State	State WARN Law	Requirements
Alabama	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Alaska	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Arizona	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Arkansas	No	Same as the federal requirements.
California	Yes	Applies to employers with 75 or more full or part-time employees where 50 or more employees are to be laid off due to a plant closing, mass layoff, or relocation of the employer’s business. Unlike the federal law, there is no requirement that the number of employees to be laid off constitute a certain percentage of the employer’s workforce. Relocation is defined as a move to a different location more than 100 miles from the prior location.
Colorado	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Connecticut	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Delaware	No	Same as the federal requirements.
District of Columbia	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Florida	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Georgia	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Hawaii	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Idaho	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Illinois	Yes	Applies to employers with 75 or more full-time employees when: – 25 or more full-time employees are laid off if they constitute one-third or more of the full-time employees at the site, or – 250 or more full-time employees are laid off
Indiana	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Iowa	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Kansas	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Kentucky	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Louisiana	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Maine	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Maryland	Yes	Maryland’s version of WARN, the Maryland Economic Stabilization Act, is voluntary and applies to employers in the industrial, commercial, and business industries with 50 or more employees. Otherwise, an employer must comply with the federal requirements.
Massachusetts	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Michigan	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Minnesota	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Mississippi	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Missouri	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Montana	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Nebraska	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Nevada	No	Same as the federal requirements.
New Hampshire	No	Same as the federal requirements.
New Jersey	Yes	Applies to employers who have been in business at least three years and have at least 100 employees. It applies in situations where a covered employer: – transfers or terminates its operations during any continuous period of 30 days which results in the termination of employment of 50 or more full-time employees, or – conducts a mass layoff that results in an employment loss during any 30 day period of: 500 or more full-time employees, or 50 or more full-time employees representing one third or more of the full-time employees at the establishment
New Mexico	No	Same as the federal requirements.
New York	Yes	Applies to private employers with 50 or more workers who layoff at least 25 employees.
North Carolina	No	Same as the federal requirements.
North Dakota	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Ohio	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Oklahoma	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Oregon	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Pennsylvania	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Rhode Island	No	Same as the federal requirements.
South Carolina	No	Same as the federal requirements.
South Dakota	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Tennessee	Yes	Applies to employers with 50 or more employees, instead of the 100 required by the federal law. All other federal requirements apply.
Texas	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Utah	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Vermont	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Virginia	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Washington	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Wisconsin	No	Applies to employers with 50 or more employees, instead of the 100 required by the federal law. Notice is required when 25 employees or 25% of total employees are impacted, whichever is greater, or at least 500 employees.
West Virginia	No	Same as the federal requirements.
Wyoming	No	Same as the federal requirements.

Other Layoffs

Beyond mass layoffs and plant closings, federal law does not provide any notice protections to employees. Moreover, because most employers are governing by at-will laws in all states but Montana, employers are only required to give employees prior notice of a layoff if there is an individual employment agreement or collective bargaining agreement.

However, some states have laws that provide employees some layoff protection regarding their final paycheck and the payment of accrued leave benefits, such as vacation leave, paid time off, and sick leave. Below are links to individual states that provide more information about whether business are required to provide employees specific layoff protections that is addition to the WARN Notices by State.

Health Care Benefits and Layoffs

Under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), employees to whom employers provided health benefits and who are then laid off are protected. COBRA provides laid off employees an opportunity to retain the health benefits provided by their employer for a certain amount of time after the layoff. However, although employees may be able to retain the health insurance benefit, they will be required to pay for the full amount of the premium. The employer would not be required to continue to pay their portion of the premium if that was a benefit provided to the employee when they were employed.