Who is covered by federal WARN
The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act covers private for-profit businesses, private nonprofits and quasi-public entities that have either:
- 100 or more full-time employees, not counting employees with less than 6 months on the job or those working fewer than 20 hours a week; or
- 100 or more employees, including part-time, who together work at least 4,000 hours a week.
Most companies with fewer than 100 employees are outside federal WARN. Check the state table below, because some state laws start at 50 or 75 employees. See HR laws by company size.
What triggers a notice
| Event | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Plant closing | A site, or an operating unit within it, shuts down permanently or temporarily, and 50 or more employees lose their jobs within 30 days |
| Mass layoff (large) | 500 or more employees laid off at one site within 30 days |
| Mass layoff (smaller) | 50 to 499 employees laid off at one site within 30 days, if they are at least 33 percent of the site's active workforce |
| What counts as a job loss | A termination, a layoff of more than 6 months, or hours cut by 50 percent or more in each month of a 6-month period |
Smaller cuts add up. If separate layoffs within any 90-day period together reach a threshold, you need to give notice unless you can show they had separate and distinct causes. Workers who resign, retire or are fired for cause do not count toward the thresholds.
Who gets notice, and what it says
- Each affected employee, or their union representative if they have one. Part-time workers do not count toward the thresholds, but they are entitled to notice.
- The state dislocated worker unit (the state Rapid Response team).
- The chief elected official of the local government where the site is.
The notice to employees must be written in plain language and say whether the action is permanent or temporary, the expected date of separation, whether bumping rights exist, and a contact name and phone number. You may give a 14-day window for the separation date. A notice tucked into a pay envelope or given only verbally does not count.
Exceptions and penalties
Three exceptions can shorten the 60 days: a faltering company actively seeking capital that would avoid the closing (plant closings only), business circumstances that were not reasonably foreseeable, and natural disasters. Even then, you must give notice as soon as practicable and explain why it is short. WARN does not apply to the closing of a temporary facility or the end of a temporary project when workers knew the job was temporary.
An employer that violates WARN owes each affected employee back pay and benefits for each day of the violation, up to 60 days. Failing to notify the local government can add a civil penalty of up to $500 a day, which you can avoid by paying each affected employee within three weeks after the closing or layoff. The law does not recognize pay in lieu of notice, but paying full wages and benefits for the 60 days effectively removes the damages.
State WARN laws
State laws apply on top of federal WARN, often with lower thresholds or longer notice. These are the rules checked against each state's own sources:
| State | Who is covered | What triggers it | Notice |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | A covered establishment that employs, or employed in the last 12 months, 75 or more people | A layoff of 50 or more employees in any 30-day period, a relocation of 100 miles or more, or a termination of operations | 60 days, to employees, the EDD, the local workforce development board and city and county officials. The notice must include California-specific details such as the local workforce board contact and information about CalFresh. |
| New York | Private employers with 50 or more full-time employees in New York | A closing affecting 25 or more employees; a layoff of 25 or more full-time employees who are at least 33 percent of the site; or 250 or more full-time employees. Also some relocations and hours cuts. | 90 days, to employees, their representatives, the state DOL, local workforce boards and local officials |
| New Jersey | Employers with 100 or more employees (part-time employees count) | A closing, transfer or mass layoff ending the jobs of 50 or more employees at or reporting to the establishment (which can be all New Jersey locations) within 30 days | 90 days, plus mandatory severance of one week of pay per full year of employment, and four more weeks if notice was short |
| Illinois | Employers with 75 or more full-time employees | A plant closing affecting 50 or more employees; a layoff of 25 or more full-time employees who are at least one third of the site, or 250 or more | 60 days |
| Washington | Employers with 50 or more employees in Washington, not counting part-time employees | A business closing or mass layoff causing job loss for 50 or more employees within 30 days | 60 days, to the Employment Security Department and employees or their union. Back pay up to 60 days plus up to $500 a day in civil penalties. |
Other states have their own notice laws too. If you have employees in several states, check each one with its labor or workforce agency.
How to plan a layoff with WARN in mind
- Count employees company-wide and by site, separating full-time from part-time.
- List every planned job loss with dates, and look 90 days back and 90 days ahead for other cuts.
- Check each state where affected employees work, since state thresholds can be lower and notice longer.
- Work backward from the separation date: 60 days for federal WARN, 90 days in New York and New Jersey.
- Prepare the employee, state and local notices together, and keep proof of delivery.
- Prepare severance agreements with the 45-day review period and disclosures required for employees 40 and older. See severance agreements.
Common questions
Can I pay 60 days of wages instead of giving notice?
The federal law does not recognize pay in lieu of notice. But because damages are capped at back pay and benefits for up to 60 days, the DOL says paying full wages and benefits for that period effectively precludes any relief. State laws can differ, such as New Jersey's extra four weeks of severance.
Does WARN apply to a company with 60 employees?
Not federal WARN, which starts at 100 employees. But New York's law covers employers with 50 or more full-time employees in the state, and Washington's covers employers with 50 or more employees in Washington.
Do part-time employees count?
Under federal WARN, part-time employees do not count toward the thresholds, but they must receive notice. New Jersey counts part-time employees.
Does selling the business trigger WARN?
Employees of the seller automatically become employees of the buyer for WARN purposes, so the technical change of employer does not trigger notice. A closing or layoff before or after the sale can.
How MambaHR handles this
MambaHR plans reductions in force with legal checks, and people make every decision. For each approved exit it drafts the separation paperwork, prepares the COBRA continuation notices and turns the exit into a payroll change. Every change is logged.
Sources
- DOL ETA: WARN Act compliance assistance
- DOL ETA: WARN Employer's Guide to Advance Notice of Closings and Layoffs
- California Labor Code 1400 to 1408 (Cal-WARN)
- New York DOL: WARN
- New Jersey DOL: N.J.S.A. 34:21-1 et seq. (WARN law as amended)
- Business.NJ.gov: Updates to employee rights under New Jersey WARN law
- Illinois DCEO: Notices of layoffs and closures (WARN)
- Washington Legislature: SB 5525 final bill report (2025)
Last reviewed October 2, 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice. Laws change and exceptions apply, so check the sources above or an employment lawyer before you act on a specific case.