Mini-WARN Laws by State and Municipality
Author: XpertHR Editorial Team
The federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires covered employers that are planning a plant closing or mass layoff to provide advance written notice to employees and other entities. The Act also imposes penalties on employers that fail to provide the required notice.
The following chart summarizes state and local mini-WARN Act requirements for mass layoffs, plant closings and relocations relating to employer coverage, triggering events, written notice and penalties. It also includes any exceptions to these requirements.
References on the chart to FTEs means "full-time employees" and to PTEs means "part-time employees." Cells marked with "N/A" signify either that there is no state or local law or that the particular issue in question does not apply under that state's or locality's law.
Information regarding COVID-19 related laws for layoffs and furloughs is available in the Editor's Choice article, Coronavirus (COVID-19): WARN Implications for Layoffs and Furloughs.
Jurisdiction | Employer Coverage | Triggering Event | Notice Requirements | Exceptions to Notice Requirements | Penalties | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Federal | 100 or more FTEs, or 100 or more employees (including PTEs) working a total of 4,000 hours per week excluding overtime | Plant closing resulting in permanent or temporary shutdown of:
|
60 days' written notice |
|
|
N/A |
Alabama | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
Alaska | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Arizona | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Arkansas | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
California | 75 or more employees in the last 12 months |
|
60 days' written notice |
|
Similar to federal WARN | For the period beginning March 4, 2020, through end of the COVID-19 emergency, California's WARN Act is suspended for mass layoffs, relocations or terminations caused by COVID-19-related business circumstances that were not reasonably foreseeable at the time notice would have been required. |
Colorado | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Connecticut | Industrial, commercial or business facility that employs, or has employed at any time in the last 12 months, at least 100 employees |
|
|
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N/A | When a closing or relocation occurs, covered employers must pay each affected employee and their dependents (if covered under the group policy) in full for the continuation of existing group health insurance for at least 120 days from that date or until the employee becomes eligible for other group coverage, whichever is less. |
Delaware | 100 or more FTEs, or 100 or more employees (including PTEs) working a total of 2,000 hours per week |
|
60 days' written notice to:
|
Mirrors the federal WARN Act exceptions | Mostly similar to the federal WARN Act, but employers may also be subject to fines of $1,000 per day of violation, or $100 per day of violation per dislocated worker, whichever is greater. Penalties may be reduced under certain conditions. | Reemployment assistance is not required, but if reemployment assistance or severance is provided, information about it must be included in the required notice. |
District of Columbia | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Florida | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Georgia | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Hawaii | 50 or more employees | Any facility closing, partial facility closing or relocation of all, or substantially all, of an employer's industrial, commercial or business operations to a location outside of Hawaii | 60 days' written notice to:
|
Similar to the federal WARN Act exceptions | Mirrors the federal WARN Act | Affected employees may be entitled to receive a dislocated workers' allowance. |
Idaho | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Illinois | 75 or more FTEs, or 75 or more employees working a total of 4,000 hours per week | Mass layoff of:
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60 days' written notice to:
|
|
A failure to give the required notice is subject to a civil penalty of up to $500 for each day of the violation. An employer may avoid the civil penalty, however, if it pays all affected employees the amounts for which it is liable within three weeks from the date it ordered the mass layoff, relocation or employment loss. | The total amount of the penalties may not exceed the maximum amount for which the employer may be liable under federal law for the same violation. |
Indiana | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Iowa | 25 or more FTEs | A business closing or mass layoff resulting in an employment loss at a single job site during any 30-day period of 25 or more FTEs. | 30 days' written notice |
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Up to $100 per day for each day of the violation | An employer may reduce the 30-day notice requirement by the number of days for which it makes severance payments or pays wages for work days occurring during the notice period. The severance payment or wages in lieu of notice must be at least equal to the employee's regular pay rate. |
Kansas | Employers in:
|
N/A | N/A | N/A | Up to $1,000 fine, imprisonment of up to one year in county jail, or both | An employer must not willfully limit or stop operations for the purpose of limiting production or transportation, or to affect prices to avoid state labor and employment laws, but may apply to the Kansas Secretary of Labor for permission to stop operations. |
Kentucky | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Louisiana | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Maine | 100 or more employees in the last 12 months |
|
At least 90 days' written notice to:
|
|
|
N/A |
Maryland | 50 or more employees |
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60 days' written notice | Reductions stemming from:
|
Civil penalty of up to $10,000 per day for each day that an employer A fails to provide notice, up to $600,000 | N/A |
Massachusetts | 50 or more employees |
|
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N/A | Failure to notify commissioner of a plant closing or partial closing is punishable by:
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Unlike other states with plant closing laws, advance notice that a plant closing will occur is a voluntary declaration that an employer must give in writing to an employee, or to the employee's authorized collective bargaining representative. |
Michigan | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Minnesota | Employers covered by the federal WARN Act |
|
Report the names, addresses and occcupations of terminated employees to the Minnesota Commissioner of Employment and Economic Development | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Mississippi | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Missouri | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Montana | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Nebraska | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Nevada | Call centers with 50 or more employees | Relocation of a call center (or certain operations of a call center) to a foreign country | 90 days' notice | N/A | If the employer receives state incentives and fails to provide notice:
|
If the employer does not receive state incentives, a failure to provide the federal WARN Act notice may result in a civil penalty of up to $5,000 and an additional penalty of $500 per day for a maximum of 30 days. |
New Hampshire | 100 or more employees who work a combined 3,000 hours per week excluding overtime |
|
60 days' notice |
|
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An employer may avoid a civil penalty by paying the amounts for which it is liable to all affected employees within three weeks from the date it orders the mass layoff or plant closing. |
New Jersey | 100 or more FTEs and in business for at least three years |
|
60 days' notice |
|
One week of severance pay for every year of service to the employer, if the employer fails to provide the proper notification | Amendments to expand the NJ WARN Act are on hold until 90 days after the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency (i.e., extension of notice requirement to 90 days and requirement to provide an additional four weeks of pay for all affected employees for failure to provide full WARN notice). |
New Mexico | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
New York | 50 or more FTEs, or 50 or more employees who work a combined 2,000 hours per week |
|
90 days' notice |
|
Largely mirrors penalties under the federal WARN Act | Covered call center employers must comply with special advance-notice requirements in the event of a relocation out of New York State or the US. |
North Carolina | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
North Dakota | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Ohio | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Oklahoma | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Oregon | Employers covered by the federal WARN Act | Same as the federal WARN Act | If covered by the federal WARN Act, 60 days' written notice of a plant closing or mass layoff to the Office of Community Colleges and Workforce Development | Same as the federal WARN Act | Same as the federal WARN Act | N/A |
Pennsylvania | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | While Pennsylvania does not have a plant closing law, Philadelphia has a mini-WARN Act. |
Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) | 50 or more employees at any time in the previous 12 months |
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60 days' notice to:
|
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If an employer intentionally failed to provide 60 days' notice of its intention to close or relocate its operations, a court may stop the employer from carrying out that action until proper notice is provided. An employer may also be liable for damages equal to an employee's daily pay for each day notice was not provided, but not for more than 60 days. |
A business closure caused by the COVID-19 pandemic will qualify for an exception to the law's advance notice requirements provided the employer takes certain steps. |
Rhode Island | N/A | N/A | Notice to the Chief of the Labor and Training Operations Business Service Unit at the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training when notice is required under federal WARN | N/A | A failure to pay final wages within 24 hours of the time of separation is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of at least $400 for each separate offense, and/or imprisonment for up to one year. | N/A |
South Carolina | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
South Dakota | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Tennessee | 50-to-99 FTEs |
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Tennessee does not specify the timing, but employers must provide 60 days' notice in line with the federal WARN Act to the:
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In addition to the federal WARN Act exceptions, Tennessee law provides the following exceptions:
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N/A | N/A |
Texas | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Utah | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Vermont |
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Business closings and mass layoffs affecting 50 or more employees over a 90-day period |
|
|
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The Vermont Department of Labor does not intend to enforce the mini-WARN Act against businesses forced to lay off employees due to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
Virginia | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Washington | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
West Virginia | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Wisconsin | 50 or more employees |
|
60 days' notice to:
|
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Affected employees may recover pay and the value of any benefits under an employee benefit plan for the days during the recovery period that they would have worked if the business closing or mass layoff had not occurred. | A business closing surcharge of up to $500 per day may be assessed for failing to give timely notice to the highest official of a municipality. |
Wyoming | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |