Also known as: Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification Act · WARN Act · WARN
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A federal statute that requires covered employers to give sixty days' advance written notice of a plant closing or mass layoff to affected employees, the state dislocated-worker unit, and the chief elected official of the local government where the closing or layoff will occur.
Acme Manufacturing plans to shut its Ohio plant employing 120 workers. CEO Dana Ellis decides against sending the required notices. Three months later the plant closes. Affected employee Evan Foster sues for back pay and benefits under the statute.
Beta Electronics reduces its Texas workforce by 75 employees at one site over 30 days. Manager Gina Holt provides no advance notice to workers or state officials. Laid-off employee Henry Ives files suit claiming violation of the sixty-day requirement.
Gamma Textiles closes a North Carolina facility affecting 90 jobs. Owner Ian Jones notifies only the employees. The mayor of the host city, Karen Lee, learns of the closing after the fact and the state agency receives no notice.
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Delta Logistics schedules a mass layoff of 60 workers at its single Illinois site. HR director Lisa Moore issues written notices exactly sixty days before the effective date to all required recipients including the local government official.
Epsilon Services employs 150 workers at a California location. Owner Mike Nash considers a partial closing that will eliminate 55 positions. Legal counsel advises that the statute applies and sixty-day notices must be prepared.
Zeta Foods announces a plant closing in Michigan impacting 80 employees. Director Nora Owen sends timely notices to workers and the mayor but omits the state dislocated-worker unit. The agency later cites the company for noncompliance.
The statute requires covered employers to provide sixty days' advance written notice of a plant closing or mass layoff to affected employees, the state dislocated-worker unit, and the chief elected official of the local government.
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Notice must be given to the employees who will lose their jobs, the state agency responsible for dislocated workers, and the chief elected official of the unit of local government where the closing or layoff occurs.
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The Act is triggered by a plant closing or a mass layoff as defined in the statute, which generally involves employment losses affecting fifty or more employees at a single site.
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