Section 3(a) of WARN provides for notice to each representative of
the affected employees as of the time notice is required to be given or,
if there is no such representative at that time, to each affected
employee. Notice also must be served on the State dislocated worker unit
and the chief elected official of the unit of local government within
which a closing or layoff is to occur. Section 2(b)(1) of the Act states
that ``any person who is an employee of the seller (other than a
parttime employee) as of the effective date [time] of the sale shall be
considered an employee of the purchaser immediately after the effective
date [time] of the sale.'' This provision preserves the notice rights of
the employees of a business that has been sold, but creates no other
employment rights. Although a technical termination of the seller's
employees may be deemed to have occurred when a sale becomes effective,
WARN notice is only required where the employees, in fact, experience a
covered employment loss.
(a) Representative(s) of affected employees. Written notice is to be
served upon the chief elected officer of the exclusive representative(s)
or bargaining agent(s) of affected employees at the time of the notice.
If this person is not the same as the officer of the local union(s)
representing affected employees, it is recommended that a copy also be
given to the local union official(s).
(b) Affected employees. Notice is required to be given to employees
who may reasonably be expected to experience an employment loss. This
includes employees who will likely lose their jobs because of bumping
rights or other factors, to the extent that such workers can be
identified at the time notice is required to be given. If, at the time
notice is required to be given, the employer cannot identify the
employee who may reasonably be expected to experience an employment loss
due to the elimination of a particular position, the employer must
provide notice to the incumbent in that position. While part-time
employees are not counted in determining whether plant closing or mass
layoff thresholds are reached, such workers are due notice.
(c) State dislocated worker unit. Notice is to be served upon the
State dislocated worker unit. Since the States are restructuring to
implement training under EDWAA, service of notice upon the State
Governor constitutes service upon the State dislocated worker unit until
such time as the Governor makes public State procedures for serving
notice to this unit.
(d) Chief elected official of the unit of local government. The
identity of the chief elected official will vary according to the local
government structure. In the case of elected boards, the notice is to be
served upon the board's chairperson.
