Free readiness check
Does Your Layoff Trigger WARN?
Before a reduction moves, run the counting. This quick check applies the federal WARN thresholds and the 90-day aggregation flag to your numbers. It adds the California, New York, Illinois, and New Jersey mini-WARN reads. It returns an exposure profile you can take to counsel. It is a screen, not a determination.
Before you start
What you will need. Employees at the site, Employees company-wide, Employment losses in the largest 30-day window, Employment losses across the rolling 90-day window
The site and the numbers
Advanced options
Your WARN exposure profile
The method
What triggers WARN, in plain terms
The federal WARN Act covers employers with 100 or more employees. Two events require 60 calendar days of written notice. A plant closing is the shutdown of a site, or of an operating unit within it. It counts when 50 or more employees lose their employment in a 30-day period. A mass layoff is a reduction of 500 or more at a single site. It also covers 50 to 499 when that is at least 33% of the active workforce there. Notice goes to affected employees or their representatives, the state dislocated worker unit, and the chief elected local official. Each has its own required content under 20 CFR 639.7.
How this is calculated
The 90-day trap
Employers get caught on aggregation more than on the headline thresholds. Separate smaller reductions within any 90-day period are counted together unless the employer can prove they arise from separate and distinct causes. Three rounds of 20 in a quarter can be one mass layoff in the eyes of the statute. That is why this check asks for the 90-day figure separately. It is also why the toolkit runs the rolling windows on dated entries rather than a single snapshot.
State mini-WARN laws stack on federal
State law can cover smaller employers, smaller reductions, and longer notice. California covers establishments that employed 75 or more in the preceding 12 months. It triggers at 50 losses in 30 days. It also triggers on a termination of operations, or a relocation of 100 miles or more, regardless of the number affected. SB 617 requires expanded notice content from 1 January 2026. New York covers employers of 50 or more full-time employees. It triggers at 25 full-time losses when that is a third of the site, or at 250 regardless, and requires 90 days of notice. Illinois covers employers of 75 or more. Triggers are 25 full-time losses at a third of the workforce, or 250, and 50 for a closing. New Jersey counts 100 employees nationwide, triggers at 50 terminations statewide in 30 days, and requires 90 days of notice. It is the only state with mandatory severance of one week of pay per year of service. Meeting the federal test is not the end of the question, and failing it is not a pass.
Remote workers are the open question
The federal regulations predate fixed-home remote work, and the few courts to rule on where a remote worker's single site of employment sits have conflicted. New York counts remote employees based at the site by statute. Litigation filed in 2024 is testing the question federally. The cautious practice many employers follow is to include remote workers in the counting and the notices. This check flags the issue whenever remote workers are in your numbers.
Carry this into the decision
Run the real counting, then the notices
The WARN Act Compliance Toolkit runs the rolling 30-day and 90-day windows on your dated entries, reads federal and state exposure, and includes the notice letters and timeline planner.
$79. 30 days. Reply to your receipt or email support@truestephr.com for a full refund. No form or explanation is required, and you keep the files.
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Put your own numbers in and read the result on screen.
Put your own numbers in and read the result on screen.
Put your own numbers in and read the result on screen.
Put your own numbers in and read the result on screen.
Put your own numbers in and read the result on screen.
Put your own numbers in and read the result on screen.
This tool estimates from the figures you enter. It is general information rather than legal, tax, or accounting advice, so check the result against your own records before you rely on it.