The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act of 1988 is a U.S. federal labor law that offers protection to workers, their families, and communities by requiring most larger employers to provide 60 days' advance written notice of a plant closing or mass layoff.

• Source: For the official overview and compliance assistance materials, visit the U.S. Department of Labor's WARN Act page.

📌 The Purpose: The 60-Day Head Start

The primary goal of the WARN Act is to give everyone affected—workers, local governments, and support agencies—adequate transition time to prepare for the economic change.

For workers, this time is used to:

• Seek and obtain new employment.
• Enroll in job training or retraining programs.
• Make financial and personal adjustments.

👥 Who Must Give Notice? (The Covered Employer)

The federal WARN Act generally applies to private employers with 100 or more full-time employees.

• Note: Many states (often called "Mini-WARN" states) have their own laws that apply to smaller companies (e.g., 50 or 75 employees) or require longer notice periods (e.g., 90 days).

⚠️ When is Notice Required? (The Triggering Events)

A company with 100+ full-time employees must typically issue a WARN notice if one of the following events occurs at a single site of employment within a rolling 30-day period:

Event TypeFederal ThresholdSimplified ExplanationPlant Closing50 or more employees lose their jobs.The permanent or temporary shutdown of an entire employment site, or a single operating unit within that site, that results in 50+ losses.Mass Layoff

Either of the following:

(1) 500 or more employees lose their jobs.

(2) 50 to 499 employees lose their jobs, AND that number constitutes at least 33% of the employer’s total active workforce.

A large reduction in force that is not due to a full plant closure, but still meets a significant employment loss threshold.

• Source: For detailed legal definitions of these terms, refer to the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 20 CFR Part 639.

📉 What is an "Employment Loss"?

An "employment loss" that triggers the Act is defined as:

• A permanent employment termination (not a discharge for cause, retirement, or voluntary departure).
• A layoff lasting more than 6 months.
• A reduction in an employee's work hours of more than 50% during each month of any 6-month period.

🚫 Exceptions: When Notice Might Be Shorter or Not Required

There are a few federally defined circumstances where the 60-day notice requirement can be reduced or eliminated. These are often complex and strictly scrutinized by courts:

1. Faltering Company (Plant Closing Only): The employer was actively seeking capital or business that, if obtained, would have prevented the shutdown, and they reasonably believed giving notice would have jeopardized that financing.
2. Unforeseeable Business Circumstances: The need for the layoff or closing was caused by sudden, dramatic, and unexpected business conditions that were not reasonably foreseeable (e.g., the sudden loss of a major contract).
3. Natural Disaster: The plant closing or mass layoff is a direct result of a flood, earthquake, drought, or other natural disaster.

⚖️ The Penalty for Non-Compliance

An employer that violates the WARN Act is liable to each affected employee for:

• Back Pay and Benefits: For the period of the violation, up to 60 days.

Since the federal government does not enforce the Act, it is enforced through private civil lawsuits filed in U.S. Federal Court.

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