The WARN Act: when layoffs require advance notice

What WARN requires

Review WARN coverage before setting separation dates. Federal WARN requires covered employers to give advance written notice before qualifying plant closings and mass layoffs. Required recipients generally include affected employees or their representatives, the state dislocated worker unit and the chief elected official of the relevant local government. State laws and separate agreements may create additional obligations, including severance.

Start with the number of planned employment losses, the affected sites and the separation dates. Include earlier reductions and future plans that may count toward the same event. Together, these details help establish the notice deadlines, required recipients and information each notice must contain. A federal WARN notice violation may result in back pay and benefits for affected employees, generally up to 60 days.

1. Provide at least 60 calendar days of written notice to the required recipients for covered events. Include the information required by federal regulations.
2. Federal WARN provides financial remedies for notice violations. A court cannot stop a closing solely because of a WARN violation.
3. Federal WARN remedies include back pay and benefits for affected employees and a potential civil penalty for failure to notify local government. Federal WARN does not require severance pay. New Jersey requires statutory severance for covered events, and Maine requires severance for certain closings.
4. For covered events, prepare the required written notices and plan employee payments together. Qualifying payments may reduce the amount owed for a notice violation.

Federal WARN coverage and event thresholds

Coverage under federal WARN depends on employer size, employment losses and the affected single site of employment. State laws may use different thresholds and counting rules, so check their requirements separately.

100 or more employees

Federal WARN has two employer coverage tests. The first generally covers employers with 100 or more employees, excluding those who average fewer than 20 hours per week or have worked fewer than six of the preceding 12 months.

The alternative test can cover employers with 100 or more employees, including part-time employees, who together work at least 4,000 hours per week, excluding overtime.

Federal WARN generally applies to private employers and certain public or quasi-public business operations.

Then determine which planned changes count as employment losses. These generally include involuntary terminations other than discharge for cause, layoffs exceeding six months and reductions of more than 50% in working hours during each month of a six-month period. Voluntary departures and retirements are excluded.

Plant closing 50 or more employment losses

A permanent or temporary shutdown of a single site, or of one or more facilities or operating units within it, that results in employment losses for at least 50 employees during a 30-day period. Part-time employees are excluded from the event threshold.

Mass layoff 50 to 499 employees at 33%, or 500 or more

A workforce reduction at a single site during a 30-day period, separate from a plant closing. The threshold is met when 50 to 499 employees, excluding part-time employees, experience employment losses representing at least 33% of the site's workforce. Employment losses involving 500 or more employees meet the numerical threshold regardless of percentage.

Identify the affected single site of employment and when the losses will occur. Federal WARN generally counts employment losses at a single site, while state laws may use different counting rules. New Jersey, for example, counts covered employment losses across the employer's New Jersey locations. Apply the federal 30-day counting period and the separate 90-day aggregation rule.

When separate layoffs count as one event

Separate layoffs at a single site can count together under federal WARN. When two or more groups of employment losses occur within a 90-day period and each falls below the threshold individually, their combined total may trigger WARN notice.

Separate actions or one restructuring

Reductions resulting from separate and distinct business actions and causes may be evaluated individually. Staged reductions arising from the same restructuring may be treated as one event.

A site has 150 full-time employees. The employer plans to eliminate 30 positions in March and another 30 in May as part of the same restructuring. Together, the reductions affect 60 employees, or 40% of the site's workforce.

If the employment losses occur within the relevant 90-day period and arise from the same business action, the combined event may trigger WARN notice. Account for both earlier and planned employment losses when setting separation dates.

Financial remedies for notice violations

Affected employees, their representatives and local government units can seek federal WARN remedies through the courts.

Employee back pay and benefits Up to 60 days

An employer that violates WARN notice requirements may owe affected employees back pay and the value of lost benefits for the violation period. The maximum is generally 60 days or half the number of days the employee worked for the employer, whichever is less. The daily pay calculation uses the higher of the employee's final regular rate or average regular rate over the preceding three years.

Local government notice penalty Up to $500 per day

Failure to provide required notice to the local government unit may result in a civil penalty of up to $500 for each day of the violation. The penalty may be avoided when the employer pays amounts owed to affected employees within three weeks of ordering the closing or layoff.

Certain payments may reduce amounts owed for a notice violation. These include qualifying wages paid during the violation period, voluntary and unconditional payments the employer was not required to make, and payments to third parties for employee benefits. A court may also award reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party.

Planning notice dates early helps employers meet deadlines and gives affected employees more time to prepare.

WARN requirements in five states

State WARN laws may cover smaller employers, require longer notice periods or establish additional payments. These five states show how coverage, notice and severance requirements differ. Review the requirements in every state connected to the affected workforce.

California 75 employees | 60 days

California WARN generally covers an establishment that employed 75 or more people during the preceding 12 months. A mass layoff involving 50 or more employees at a covered establishment generally requires 60 days of notice. The law also covers qualifying terminations and relocations of 100 miles or more, regardless of the number of employees affected. California does not use the federal one-third workforce test for mass layoffs. SB 617, effective for notices issued on or after 1 January 2026, added notice-content requirements. Notices must address transition services, including whether the employer will coordinate with the local workforce development board or another entity. They must include the board's contact information, a description of its services, CalFresh information and an employer contact. When the employer elects to coordinate transition services, coordination must occur within 30 days of the notice.

Illinois 75 employees | 60 days

Illinois WARN covers employers with 75 or more full-time employees, or 75 or more employees who together work at least 4,000 hours per week. The notice period is 60 days. A mass layoff generally involves 250 full-time employment losses, or at least 25 losses representing one-third or more of the site's full-time workforce. A plant closing generally reaches the threshold at 50 employment losses.

New York 50 employees | 90 days

New York WARN generally covers private employers with 50 or more full-time employees. Covered events require 90 days of notice. A plant closing can trigger notice with 25 or more full-time employment losses. For mass layoffs, the threshold is generally 25 employees representing at least one-third of the site's workforce, or 250 employees regardless of percentage. New York also requires notice to additional state and local recipients.

New Jersey 90 days | Statutory severance

New Jersey WARN generally covers employers with 100 or more employees, counted across their locations. A covered mass layoff involves at least 50 employment losses across the employer's New Jersey sites, with no one-third workforce test. The notice period is 90 days. New Jersey also requires statutory severance for covered mass layoffs, closings and transfers of operations.

Washington 50 employees | 60 days

Washington's state WARN law took effect 27 July 2025. It generally covers employers with 50 or more full-time employees in Washington and requires 60 days of notice for qualifying mass layoffs and business closings. The mass layoff threshold is generally 50 or more employees at a single site during a 30-day period. Covered business closings involving 50 or more employment losses can also trigger notice. ESB 6106, signed 17 March 2026, excludes Indian tribes from the employer definition and protects affected employee names and addresses from public-records disclosure.

New Jersey requires one week of severance pay for each full year of service for employees affected by a covered mass layoff, closing or transfer of operations. Statutory severance applies even when the employer provides the full 90-day notice.

Statutory severance cannot be conditioned on a release of claims and is separate from any additional consideration offered for a release. A waiver of the statutory payment requires approval from the New Jersey Department of Labor or a court.

When the full 90-day notice is not provided, an additional four weeks of pay is owed. Account for the notice deadline, statutory severance and any separate release agreement in the reduction plan.

Maine, Maryland and other states also have requirements to consider. State rules vary by employer size, event threshold, notice period, recipients and severance.

When federal and state WARN both apply, the employer must meet the requirements of each. A state notice period longer than the federal 60 days generally covers the federal notice period as well. Meeting the stricter state deadline generally satisfies both laws on timing. Each law’s own recipients and notice content still apply.

Check applicable state requirements, including how they treat remote employees based at an affected site, before setting notice deadlines.

Five checks before finalizing a reduction

• Calculate employee counts under federal WARN and each applicable state law. Federal WARN counts losses at a single site and excludes part-time workers from the trigger. Several states count differently, and New Jersey counts the entire state as one establishment.
• Review employment losses across the full 90-day period, including staged reductions. Two or more rounds inside that period add together unless the employer can show separate and distinct causes.
• Prepare written notices for every required recipient and account for related payments. Federal WARN has no pay-in-place-of-notice option. Payments covering 60 days do not satisfy the notice requirement, and they only reduce the back pay a court might award.
• New Jersey statutory severance is automatic for covered events and cannot be conditioned on a signed release. Pay it independently of any release agreement. Any additional payment offered in exchange for a release must be separate.
• Assess whether a shortened-notice exception applies. The faltering company exception, which covers plant closings only, and the unforeseeable circumstances and natural disaster exceptions reduce the notice period. Give as much notice as practicable and explain the shortened period in writing. Document the basis for the exception. The employer carries the burden of proving it applies.