In this series, we will explore some of the ways states vary from one another in their employment laws.

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (“WARN Act”) is a federal law that requires employers to provide at least 60 days’ notice before closing a facility or conducting a mass layoff. The federal WARN Act generally applies to employers with 100 or more full-time employees that are closing a plant or laying off either: (a) 50 or more full-time employees if they make up at least 33 percent of the full-time workforce or (b) 500 or more full-time employees. Such employers must provide 60 days’ advance written notice to the employees, their union (where applicable), and state and local governmental leaders. Employers regularly make decisions such as terminating only 49 employees to avoid the WARN Act advance notification requirements. However, employers should be aware that some states have their own WARN Acts that go beyond the federal law’s requirements.

Thirteen states (California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Vermont, and Wisconsin) have mini-WARN Acts. Those state laws are typically more stringent than their federal counterpart. For example, Illinois’ WARN Act applies to businesses that have 75 or more full-time employees (as opposed to 100 under federal law), and employers must provide 60 days’ written notice if 25 or more full-time employees (as opposed to 50 under federal law) are laid off. Maryland’s mini-WARN Act goes even further, applying to employers with 50 or more full-time employees and requiring notices where at least 15 full-time employees are separated. New Jersey’s mini-WARN Act requires 90 days’ advance written notice instead of 60.

Employers should exercise caution and plan ahead when considering facility closures and reductions in force. They should determine as soon as possible how many employees will be affected and in which state(s) those employees work.