Mini-WARN Laws by State and Municipality

Plant closing resulting in permanent or temporary shutdown of:

• A single employment site; or
• One or more facilities or operating units within a single employment site, if the shutdown results in job loss for 50 or more FTEs during any 30-day period; or Mass layoff involving employment loss at a single employment site during any 30-day period for:
  • At least 33% of active FTEs (does not apply if 500 or more employees affected); and
  • At least 50 FTEs

• Faltering company exception; 
• Unforeseen business circumstances; and
• Natural disaster

• Back pay for each day of the violation at the average regular rate the employee received during the last three years of employment, or the final regular rate the employee received, whichever rate is higher; and
• Benefits under an employee benefits plan, including the cost of medical expenses incurred during the employment loss which would have been covered by the plan if the loss had not occurred.
• Failure to provide advance notice to the local or state government may subject employer to fines of up to $500 per day for up to 60 days.
• Penalties may be reduced if employer made payments to employees for period of the violation, can prove it attempted to comply with WARN in good faith and reasonably believed there was no violation. 

• Mass layoff of 50 or more employees during any 30-day period at a covered employer; or
• Relocation of all or substantially all operations in a covered establishment to a location 100 miles or more away

• Physical calamity or act of war;  
• Employer was actively seeking capital and believed in good faith that giving notice would have prevented it from obtaining the needed capital to save jobs; and
• COVID-19 executive order (see Notes column)

• Relocation of all, or substantially all, of an employer's industrial or commercial operations to a different state; or
• Closing, i.e., the permanent shutting down of all operations by a covered employer

• Employers with 25 or more employees must give at least 30 days' notice before the intended sale date of any business in the state; and
• Employers that have 25 or more employees and retirees receiving health or life insurance benefits, or both, from their former employer must mail or deliver to each retiree written notice explaining what the status of their health and life insurance benefits will be after the sale and send a copy to the Labor Commissioner.

• Reopening of a covered establishment within the state;
• Covered employer that shut down under the provisions of the Federal Bankruptcy Act; or
• Covered employer that shut down operations due to a natural disaster

• Plant closing or mass layoff mirrors the federal WARN Act requirements; or
• Relocation of all or substantially all of the employer's operations to a location 50 or more miles away

60 days' written notice to:

• Affected employees and their labor representatives if any; 
• The Delaware Department of Labor; and
• The Delaware Workforce Development Board for the locality where the mass layoff, plant closing or relocation will occur

60 days' written notice to:

• Employees; and
• The Hawaii Director of Labor and Industrial Relations

Mass layoff of:

• At least 33% of FT employees and at least 25 FT employees; or
• At least 250 employees (excluding PTEs); and
• Plant closing resulting in employment loss at single site during any 30-day period for 50 or more employees

60 days' written notice to:

• Employees and their representatives;
• The Illinois Dept. of Commerce and Economic Opportunity;
• The chief elected official of each municipal and county government where the triggering event occurs, and;
• The Illinois Department of Labor at its Springfield office

• Physical calamity, act of terrorism or war;
  
• When notice was required the employer was actively seeking capital or business;
  
• The capital or business sought, if obtained, would have enabled the employer to avoid or postpone the termination; and
  
• The employer reasonably believed giving the required notice would have prevented its efforts to obtain the needed capital or business

• Faltering company; 
• Unforeseeable business circumstance; or
• Natural disaster

Employers in:

• Food and clothing manufacturing;
• Food and clothing transportation Mining;
• Public utilities; and
• Common carrier operations

• Closing; 
• Mass layoff; or 
• Relocation

At least 90 days' written notice to:

• Each eligible employee to be laid off;
• The employee's union representative, if represented by a union or unions;
• The chief elected official of the unit of local government where the closing is occurring; and
• The state's Dislocated Worker Unit.

• Closing due to a physical calamity;
• Closing due to the final order of a federal, state or local government agency; or
• The employee has worked for the employer for fewer than three years;

• Civil fine of up to $500 per day for failing to provide notice to the Director of the Bureau of Labor Standards, affected employees or municipal officers; and
• Violating the severance pay requirements may lead to fine of up to $1,000 per violation and per employee.

• Relocation of a part of an employer's operation to another existing or proposed site; or a
• Shutdown of a workplace (or part of its operations) that reduces number of employees by at least 25%, or 15 employees over three-month period, whichever is greater

Reductions stemming from:

• Labor disputes;
• Closing of temporary workplaces or construction sites;
• Closing from seasonal factors customary in the industry; or
• Employer filing for bankruptcy under federal law

• Plant closings; 
• Partial closings; and
• Relocations

• Promptly report information to labor commissioner that will determine employees' reemployment assistance benefits rights; and
• Provide notice to labor commissioner upon relocation within Massachusetts if 12 or more employees

Failure to notify commissioner of a plant closing or partial closing is punishable by:

• A fine of up to $100 for a first offense;
• A a fine of $200 to $500 for any subsequent offense within two years after the first offense; and/or
• Imprisonment for up to two years

• Plant closings; 
• Substantial layoffs; and
• Relocations of operations

If the employer receives state incentives and fails to provide notice:

• A civil penalty of up to $5,000 for each day the employer fails to provide the notice; or
• Requirement to conduct a study, at the employer's expense, to determine the financial impact of the failure to provide the required notice on the community surrounding the call center

• Mass layoff of at least 250 employees during a 30-day period; orat least 25 employees, if they constitute one-third of the employer's FTEs; and
• Plant closing resulting in an employment loss of 50 or more employees during any 30-day period                                                     

• Faltering company;
• Unforeseen business circumstances;
• Closing of a temporary facility; 
• Physical calamity, natural disaster or an act of terrorism or war; or
• Strike or lockout not intended to evade compliance
  

• Up to $2,500 in civil penalties;
• Up to $100 per employee per day for noncompliance;
• Back pay; and 
• Cost of medical expenses incurred that would have been covered under an employee benefits plan

• A transfer of operations, or termination of operations, during any 30-day period resulting in the termination of employment of 50 or more FTEs; or
• A mass layoff that results in an employment loss during any 30-day period for 500 or more FTEs, or for 50 or more FTEs representing at least one-third of the FTEs at the establishment

• Fire;
• Flood;
• Natural disaster;
• National emergency or act of war; 
• Civil disorder or industrial sabotage;
• Decertification from participation in Medicare or Medicaid programs; or
• License revocation.   

• Mass layoff at a single employment site during any 30-day period of at least 33% of FTEs and at least 25 FTEs, or at least 250 FTEs;
• Plant closing resulting in employment loss of at least 25 employees; and
• Relocation to a different site at least 50 miles away from the original employment site where at least 25 or more FTEs suffered an employment loss

• Faltering company;
• Unforeseeable business circumstance;
• Closing of temporary facility;
• Natural disaster; or
• Strike or lockout

• Plant closings; and
• Relocations

60 days' notice to:

• The Director of Commerce of the City of Philadelphia; and
• Affected employees and their representatives, if any

• Involuntary closing of an establishment;
• Employer has filed for bankruptcy in accordance with the federal bankruptcy laws; and
• Termination of employees due to strikes and lockouts

• Plant closing;
• Modernizing of workplace where the number of employees is permanently or indefinitely reduced by 50 or more in any three-month period;,
• Relocation beyond 50 miles; or any
• Reduction in force affecting 50 or more employees during three-month period

Tennessee does not specify the timing, but employers must provide 60 days' notice in line with the federal WARN Act to the:

• Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development; and
• All affected employees

In addition to the federal WARN Act exceptions, Tennessee law provides the following exceptions:

• Labor dispute;
• Construction site or other temporary workplace; or
• Seasonal factors, as determined to be customary within the business or industry

• 50 or more FTEs;
• 50 or more PTEs who each work at least 1,040 hours per year; or
• A combination of 50 or more FTEs and PTEs who each work at least 1,040 hours per year

• 45 days' notice to the Secretary of Commerce and Community Development and the Labor Commissioner; and
• 30 days' notice to the local chief elected official or administrative officer of the municipality, affected employees, and their bargaining agent, if any

• Strike or lockout;
• Faltering business;
• Unforeseeable business circumstance;
• Disaster beyond the employer's control;
• Completion of a particular project (or seasonal employment), and the employer hired the affected employees with the understanding that their employment was limited to the duration of the project or season
  

• One day of severance pay for each day after first day in the 45-day notice period, up to a maximum of 10 days' severance pay; and
• The continuation of existing medical or dental coverage under an employment benefit plan, for up to one month after an employment loss

• Business closings affecting 25 or more employees; and
• Mass Layoffs affecting 25 or more employees or 25% of the employer's workforce, whichever is greater, or 500 employees

60 days' notice to:

• Affected employees;
• Collective bargaining representative of affected employees;
• Department of Workforce Development; and the
• Highest official of any municipality where the employment site is located

• Strike or lockout;
• Sale of part or all of the employer's business if the buyer agrees in writing to hire most of the affected employees with no more than a six-month break in employment;
• Relocation of an employer's business within a reasonable commuting distance;
• Completion of a particular project (including seasonal work), if the employer hired the affected employees with the understanding that their employment was limited to the length of the project;
• Unforeseeable business circumstances;
• Natural or man-made disaster beyond the employer's control;
• Faltering company; or a
• Temporary stop in business operations if the employer recalls the affected employees within 60 days