WARN ACT LAYOFF RIGHTS LAWYER

ATTENTION LAID OFF EMPLOYEES: We advise that you DO NOT SIGN any documents, waivers, releases or agreements the company presents you upon layoff - first consult a WARN Act Layoff Lawyer for a free evaluation of your layoff rights.

EMPLOYER NOT PAYING OVERTIME? CLICK HERE TO LEARN YOUR OVERTIME RIGHTS.

If you were recently laid off - from a factory or manufacturing industry plant, a financial services company, an auto or transportation related company - or any other large company in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, California, Pennsylvania, New York, Illinios or anywhere in the U.S. - as part of a mass layoff or plant closing and you did not receive the mandated notice, please contact us immediately to find out if you are eligible to receive monetary compensation.

There are no attorney’s fees unless you recover money.  

If there is no recovery, you will not be responsible for any court costs or litigation expenses. If there is a recovery, court costs and litigation expenses are paid from your share.

In these tough economic times workers across the nation are being laid off in record numbers. Federal labor law (and select state law) require adequate notice be given to workers before a mass layoff or plant closing.  In fact workers are entitled to monetary compensation upon a court's finding the employer failed to properly notify workers before a mass layoff or plant closing. 

If you recently lost your job as part of a mass layoff or plant closing or shutdown please complete our short CONFIDENTIAL contact form on the right side of this page or call the Layoff Lawyers immediately at TOLL FREE 1.800.467.4000 to find out if you are eligible to receive  monetary compensation equal to 60 days back pay and benefits for your employer's violation of the WARN Act.  The call is free.

The federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act)  protects workers, their families, and communities by requiring most large employers to provide notification 60 calendar days in advance of plant closings and mass layoffs.

The WARN Act requires that notice be given directly to employees or to designated employee representatives, the local chief elected official, and the state dislocated worker unit.

Among state laws that go further in protecting workers rights following a layoff are  the following:

• The New York WARN Act;
• The New Jersey WARN Act;
• The California WARN Act;
• The Illinois WARN Act; and 
• The Wisconsin WARN Act. 

Contact us for detailed information on each of these laws and to find out whether you are covered.

Advance notice gives workers and their families some transition time to adjust to the prospective loss of employment, to seek and obtain other jobs, and, if necessary, to enter skill training or retraining that will allow these workers to compete successfully in the job market.

• Generally, the WARN Act covers employer companies with 100 or more employees; and
  
• Employees entitled to advance notice under the WARN  Act include managers and supervisors as well as hourly and salaried workers.

The WARN Act generally covers workers if the job loss occurs as part of:

A plant closing where the employer shuts down a facility or operating unit and lays off at least 50 full-time workers;

A mass layoff where the employer lays off either between 50 and 499 full-time workers at a single site of employment and that number is 33% of the number of full-time workers at the single site of employment; or

A situation where your employer lays off 500 or more full-time workers at a single site of employment.

If you recently lost your job as part of a mass layoff or plant closing or shutdown please complete our short CONFIDENTIAL contact form on the right side of this page or call us immediately at TOLL FREE 1.800.467.4000 to find out if you are eligible to receive  monetary compensation equal to 60 days back pay and benefits for your employer's violation of the WARN Act.  The call is free.

Currrent Investigations

We are currently conducting nationwide investigations of company mass layoffs, plant closings and shutdowns for any potential violations of the WARN Act and for failure to provide adequate notice to workers prior to their layoff.

WARN Act Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)

Which Employers are Covered?

In general, employers are covered by THE WARN ACT if they have 100 or more employees, not counting employees who have worked less than 6 months in the last 12 months and not counting employees who work an average of less than 20 hours a week. Federal, State, and local government entities which provide public services are not covered.

Am I Covered?

Employees entitled to notice under THE WARN ACT include hourly and salaried workers, as well as managerial and supervisory employees.

Can I Fight Back If the Company Breaks the WARN Act Laws?

You bet!  Enforcement of THE WARN ACT requirements is through the United States district courts. Workers, representatives of employees and units of local government may bring individual or class action lawsuits. In any lawsuit, the court may allow reasonable attorneys’ fees as part of the costs.  Please complete our short CONFIDENTIAL contact form on the right side of this page or call us immediately at TOLL FREE 1.800.467.4000.

When Must My Employer WARN Me?

Plant Closing: A covered employer must give notice if an employment site (or one or more facilities or operating units within an employment site) will be shut down, and the shutdown will result in an employment loss for 50 or more employees during any 30-day period. This does not count employees who have worked less than 6 months in the last 12 months or employees who work an average of less than 20 hours a week for that employer. These latter groups, however, are entitled to notice (discussed later).

Mass Layoff: A covered employer must give notice if there is to be a mass layoff which does not result from a plant closing, but which will result in an employment loss at the employment site during any 30-day period for 500 or more employees, or for 50-499 employees if they make up at least 33% of the employer's active workforce. Again, this does not count employees who have worked less than 6 months in the last 12 months or employees who work an average of less than 20 hours a week for that employer. These latter groups, however, are entitled to notice (discussed later).

An employer also must give notice if the number of employment losses which occur during a 30-day period fails to meet the threshold requirements of a plant closing or mass layoff, but the number of employment losses for 2 or more groups of workers, each of which is less than the minimum number needed to trigger notice, reaches the threshold level, during any 90-day period, of either a plant closing or mass layoff. Job losses within any 90-day period usually count together toward THE WARN ACT threshold levels.

What is “Employment Loss”?

The term "employment loss" means:                          

1. An employment termination, other than a discharge for cause, voluntary departure, or retirement;                

2. a layoff exceeding 6 months; or                             

3. a reduction in an employee's hours of work of more than 50% in each month of any 6-month period.

Exceptions: An employee who refuses a transfer to a different employment site within reasonable commuting distance does not experience an employment loss. An employee who accepts a transfer outside this distance within 30 days after it is offered or within 30 days after the plant closing or mass layoff, whichever is later, does not experience an employment loss. In both cases, the transfer offer must be made before the closing or layoff, there must be no more than a 6 month break in employment, and the new job must not be deemed a constructive discharge. These transfer exceptions from the "employment loss" definition apply only if the closing or layoff results from the relocation or consolidation of part or all of the employer's business.

When is WARN Notice Not Required?

An employer does not need to give notice if a plant closing is the closing of a temporary facility, or if the closing or mass layoff is the result of the completion of a particular project or undertaking. This exemption applies only if the workers were hired with the understanding that their employment was limited to the duration of the facility, project or undertaking. An employer cannot label an ongoing project "temporary" in order to evade its obligations under THE WARN ACT.

An employer does not need to provide notice to strikers or to workers who are part of the bargaining unit(s) which are involved in the labor negotiations that led to a lockout when the strike or lockout is equivalent to a plant closing or mass layoff. Non-striking employees who experience an employment loss as a direct or indirect result of a strike and workers who are not part of the bargaining unit(s) which are involved in the labor negotiations that led to a lockout are still entitled to notice.
An employer does not need to give notice when permanently replacing a person who is an "economic striker" as defined under the National Labor Relations Act.

Who Receives the WARN Notice?

The employer must give written notice to the chief elected officer of the exclusive representative(s) or bargaining agency(s) of affected employees and to unrepresented individual workers who may reasonably be expected to experience an employment loss. This includes employees who may lose their employment due to "bumping," or displacement by other workers, to the extent that the employer can identify those employees when notice is given. If an employer cannot identify employees who may lose their jobs through bumping procedures, the employer must provide notice to the incumbents in the jobs which are being eliminated. Employees who have worked less than 6 months in the last 12 months and employees who work an average of less than 20 hours a week are due notice, even though they are not counted when determining the trigger levels.

The employer must also provide notice to the State dislocated worker unit and to the chief elected official of the unit of local government in which the employment site is located.

How Long Before a Layoff Do I Get My Notice?

With three exceptions, notice must be timed to reach the required parties at least 60 days before a closing or layoff. When the individual employment separations for a closing or layoff occur on more than one day, the notices are due to the representative(s), State dislocated worker unit and local government at least 60 days before each separation. If the workers are not represented, each worker's notice is due at least 60 days before that worker's separation.

The exceptions to 60-day notice are:                        

(1) Faltering company. This exception, to be narrowly construed, covers situations where a company has sought new capital or business in order to stay open and where giving notice would ruin the opportunity to get the new capital or business, and applies only to plant closings;

(2) unforeseeable business circumstances. This exception applies to closings and layoffs that are caused by business circumstances that were not reasonably foreseeable at the time notice would otherwise have been required; and

(3) Natural disaster. This applies where a closing or layoff is the direct result of a natural disaster, such as a flood, earthquake, drought or storm.

If an employer provides less than 60 days advance notice of a closing or layoff and relies on one of these three exceptions, the employer bears the burden of proof that the conditions for the exception have been met. The employer also must give as much notice as is practicable. When the notices are given, they must include a brief statement of the reason for reducing the notice period in addition to the items required in notices.

What Must the Notice Say?

No particular form of notice is required. However, all notices must be in writing. Any reasonable method of delivery designed to ensure receipt 60 days before a closing or layoff is acceptable.

Notice must be specific Additional notice is required when the date(s) or 14-day period(s) for a planned plant closing or mass layoff are extended beyond the date(s) or 14-day period(s) announced in the original notice.

What does my employer have to pay me under the WARN Act?

An employer who violates the WARN Act provisions is liable to each employee for an amount equal to back pay and benefits for the period of the violation, up to 60 days. That means you may be entitled to up to two months pay and benefits.

An employer who violates the WARN ACT provisions by ordering a plant closing or mass layoff without providing appropriate notice is liable to each employee for an amount including back pay and benefits for the period of violation, up to 60 days. The employer's liability may be reduced by such items as wages paid by the employer to the employee during the period of the violation and voluntary and unconditional payments made by the employer to the employee.

How is the Company Punished if They Don’t Follow the Law?

An employer who fails to provide notice as required to a unit of local government is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $500 for each day of violation. This penalty may be avoided if the employer satisfies the liability to each aggrieved employee within 3 weeks after the closing or layoff is ordered by the employer.

Where Can I Get More Information?

Specific requirements of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act or mistakenly called the Warren Act) may be found in the Act itself, Public Law 100-379 (29 U.S.C. 210l, et seq.) The Department of Labor published final regulations on April 20, 1989 in the Federal Register (Vol. 54, No. 75). The regulations appear at 20 CFR Part 639.  Or complete our short CONFIDENTIAL contact form on the right side of this page or call us immediately at TOLL FREE 1.888.93.law29 (or 1.888.935.2929).

Click here to read the full United States Department of Labor WARN Act Guide.

Within the past few months the following companies have announced layoffs. Some may have violated the WARN Act and we continue to investigate any allegations of WARN Act Layoff Law violations.  We invite laid off employees to contact us for a free evaluation of their layoff rights. 

If you know of a mass layoff or plant closing that does not appear on this list (provided at Forbes' Layoff Tracker site) please report it to us immediately.

If you were recently laid off from one of these companies - or any other company - as part of a mass layoff or plant closing and did not receive the mandated notice, please contact us immediately to find out if you are eligible to receive monetary compensation.