Overview Compliance Assistance Materials Basic Information Recordkeeping Applicable Laws and Regulations Related Topics and Links DOL Contacts Return to By Law Menu

Frequently Asked Questions What notices must be given before an employee is terminated or laid off? What services may be available to help get me back to work? more ...

OVERVIEW

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) protects workers, their families, and communities by requiring most employers with 100 or more employees to provide notification 60 calendar days in advance of plant closings and mass layoffs.

Employee entitled to notice under WARN include managers and supervisors, as well as hourly and salaried workers. WARN requires that notice also be given to employees' representatives, the local chief elected official, and the state dislocated worker unit.

Advance notice gives workers and their families some transition time to adjust to the prospective loss of employment, to seek and obtain other jobs, and, if necessary, to enter skill training or retraining that will allow these workers to compete successfully in the job market.

• Generally, WARN covers employers with 100 or more employees, not counting those who have worked less than six months in the last 12 months and those who work an average of less than 20 hours a week.
• Employees entitled to advance notice under WARN include managers and supervisors as well as hourly and salaried workers.
• Regular federal, state, and local government entities that provide public services are not covered by WARN.

The Department of Labor's (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) administers WARN at the federal level, and some states have plant closure laws of their own. A State Dislocated Worker Unit Coordinator can provide more information on notice requirements in a specific area.

DOL has no enforcement role in seeking damages for workers who did not receive adequate notice of a layoff or received no notice at all. However, they can assist workers in finding a new job or learning about training opportunities that are available.

COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE MATERIALS

BASIC INFORMATION

• Employment Law Guide - Plant Closings and Mass Layoffs - Provides an overview of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN).

• The WARN Guide to Advance Notice of Closings and Layoffs
  • Employers Guide (PDF)
  • Workers Guide (PDF)

• Filing a Claim under WARN - Explains the process for filing a complaint by workers who believe their rights under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) have been violated.

RECORDKEEPING

• Publication: A Guide to Advance Notice of Closings and Layoffs - Employers Guide Contains plant closing and layoff notice requirements under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN).

APPLICABLE LAWS AND REGULATIONS

• Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) - Protects workers, their families, and communities by requiring most employers with 100 or more employees to provide notification 60 calendar days in advance of plant closings and mass layoffs.
• 20 CFR Part 639 - The WARN regulations administered by ETA.
• Preamble to April 20, 1989 final rule.

RELATED TOPICS AND LINKS

For Employers

• Dislocated Workers: Employers - Provides assistance to employers considering a layoff.

• Help for Employers Conducting Layoffs: "Rapid Response" Services - Provides information on Rapid Response Services for layoffs of 50 or more employees.

• Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) for Firms - Provides information on a federal program that provides financial assistance to manufacturers affected by import competition.

• State Dislocated Worker Unit Coordinators - Provides contact information for each state.

• Understanding Unemployment Insurance - Provides information on the Unemployment Insurance Program designed to reduce the impact of economic downturns by providing temporary support to laid off workers.

• Manufacturing Extension Partnerships - Provides small- and medium-sized manufacturers with expertise and services tailored to their most critical needs, ranging from process improvements to worker training.

For Employees and Dislocated Workers

• Dislocated Workers - Identifies services available to laid off workers through local One-Stop Career Centers.

• America's Service Locator - Identifies locations of local offices providing employment and training services.

• Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) and Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance (ATAA) Programs - Describes programs that help workers who have lost their jobs as a result of increased imports or shifts to production outside of the United States. The Trade Readjustment Allowances (TRA) Web site provides information on income support to people who have exhausted their unemployment compensation and whose jobs were affected by foreign imports.

• Understanding Unemployment Insurance - Provides information on the Unemployment Insurance Program designed to reduce the impact of economic downturns by providing temporary support to laid off workers.

• Your Rights for Continuing Pension and Health Benefits, Including Health Care Continuation Coverage (COBRA) - Provides responses to questions regarding health care coverage for dislocated workers.

• Frequently Asked Questions for Laid Off Workers
• State Dislocated Worker Unit Coordinators - Provides contact information for each state.

• See also Compliance Assistance By Topic - Termination Issues.

DOL CONTACTS*

• Employment and Training Administration (ETA)
  Office of National Response
  Division of Worker Dislocation and Special Response
  200 Constitution Avenue, NW
  Room N-5422
  Washington, DC 20210.
  Tel: 1-877-US2-JOBS (1-877-872-5627), or 202-693-3500
  TTY: 1-877-889-5627

• For questions on other DOL laws,
  please call DOL's Toll-Free Help Line at 1-866-4-USA-DOL. Live assistance is available in English and Spanish, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Additional service is available in more than 140 languages through a translation service.
  Tel: 1-866-4-USA-DOL
  TTY: 1-877-889-5627

*Pursuant to the U.S. Department of Labor's Confidentiality Protocol for Compliance Assistance Inquiries, information provided by a telephone caller will be kept confidential within the bounds of the law. Compliance assistance inquiries will not trigger an inspection, audit, investigation, etc.