Thursday, August 06, 2009
Tweet[IWS] CRS: THE WORKER ADJUSTMENT & RETRAINING NOTIFICATION ACT (WARN) [9 July 2009]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Congressional Research Service (CRS)
The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN)
Linda Levine, Specialist in Labor Economics
July 9, 2009
http://opencrs.com/getfile.php?rid=82291
[full-text, 10 pages]
Summary
Congress has passed legislation to facilitate the reemployment of workers who through no fault of
their own are let go by their employers. Among these laws is the Worker Adjustment and
Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, P.L. 100-379, enacted in 1988. The WARN Act requires
employers to provide written notice to displaced workers or their representatives, state dislocated
worker units or entities designated by the state to carry out rapid response activities, and the chief
elected official of a unit of local government at least 60 days before a plant closing or mass layoff
is expected to occur. Shorter notice may be provided in three instances. Other exceptions to and
exemptions from the notification requirement exist.
Relatively small businesses and small temporary layoffs are not subject to the WARN Act. Firms
with 100 or more employees, excluding part-time employees, generally must provide advance
notice if a mass layoff is expected to exceed six months. A mass layoff is an employment loss at a
job site within any 30-day period affecting (1) 50-499 employees (excluding part-timers) if they
make up at least one-third of an employer's workforce (excluding part-timers), or (2) at least 500
employees (excluding part-time employees). A plant closing is a shutdown of a work site that
produces job losses for at least 50 employees (other than part-timers) within any 30-day period.
Although part-time employees are not counted toward the act's size thresholds, they are entitled
to advance notice.
Employees, their representatives, or units of local government can bring civil actions against
employers thought to have violated the act. The Department of Labor (DOL) does not have any
investigative or enforcement authority. The maximum liability of employers is back pay and
benefits for each day that notice was not provided, although the amount of the penalty may be
reduced.
Congressional interest in the WARN Act has renewed during the current decade due in part to
growth in offshore outsourcing, perceived shortcomings of the statute, and the onset of a
recession in December 2007. On June 25, 2009, the FOREWARN Act (H.R. 3042 and S. 1374)
was introduced. The bills would require firms employing at least 75 employees to provide notice
90 days before a covered mass layoff or plant closing is to take place. As a result of lowering the
size threshold for employer coverage under the act from 100 full-time employees and lowering
the size threshold for covered employment losses from at least 50 full-time employees, H.R. 3042
and S. 1374 would expand the scope of the WARN Act. The bills also would authorize DOL to
attempt to resolve administratively complaints of WARN Act violations and to bring civil actions
on behalf of workers. Further, the Secretary of Labor and the governor of the state in which
affected worksites are located would be added to those receiving notices. H.R. 3042 and S. 1374
would in turn require the Secretary to notify the appropriate Senators and House Members of
impending layoffs and closings not later than 15 days after employers provided the notice to
DOL. The bills would increase to two days the back pay penalty for violations of the notice
requirement to which employers are subject as well.
Contents
Legislative Activity: Past and Present..........................................................................................1
Summary of the WARN Act ........................................................................................................3
Length and Intent of the Act's Advance Notice Requirement .................................................3
Whom Does the Act Cover? ..................................................................................................4
Part-Time Employees ......................................................................................................4
Employees Not Entitled to Notice ...................................................................................4
Closings and Layoffs to Which the Act Applies .....................................................................5
Exceptions to or Exemptions from P.L. 100-379....................................................................6
Transfers or Reassignments.............................................................................................6
Sale of a Business ...........................................................................................................6
Strikes and Lockouts .......................................................................................................6
Enforcement and Penalties ....................................................................................................7
Contacts
Author Contact Information ........................................................................................................7
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Congressional Research Service (CRS)
The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN)
Linda Levine, Specialist in Labor Economics
July 9, 2009
http://opencrs.com/getfile.php?rid=82291
[full-text, 10 pages]
Summary
Congress has passed legislation to facilitate the reemployment of workers who through no fault of
their own are let go by their employers. Among these laws is the Worker Adjustment and
Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, P.L. 100-379, enacted in 1988. The WARN Act requires
employers to provide written notice to displaced workers or their representatives, state dislocated
worker units or entities designated by the state to carry out rapid response activities, and the chief
elected official of a unit of local government at least 60 days before a plant closing or mass layoff
is expected to occur. Shorter notice may be provided in three instances. Other exceptions to and
exemptions from the notification requirement exist.
Relatively small businesses and small temporary layoffs are not subject to the WARN Act. Firms
with 100 or more employees, excluding part-time employees, generally must provide advance
notice if a mass layoff is expected to exceed six months. A mass layoff is an employment loss at a
job site within any 30-day period affecting (1) 50-499 employees (excluding part-timers) if they
make up at least one-third of an employer's workforce (excluding part-timers), or (2) at least 500
employees (excluding part-time employees). A plant closing is a shutdown of a work site that
produces job losses for at least 50 employees (other than part-timers) within any 30-day period.
Although part-time employees are not counted toward the act's size thresholds, they are entitled
to advance notice.
Employees, their representatives, or units of local government can bring civil actions against
employers thought to have violated the act. The Department of Labor (DOL) does not have any
investigative or enforcement authority. The maximum liability of employers is back pay and
benefits for each day that notice was not provided, although the amount of the penalty may be
reduced.
Congressional interest in the WARN Act has renewed during the current decade due in part to
growth in offshore outsourcing, perceived shortcomings of the statute, and the onset of a
recession in December 2007. On June 25, 2009, the FOREWARN Act (H.R. 3042 and S. 1374)
was introduced. The bills would require firms employing at least 75 employees to provide notice
90 days before a covered mass layoff or plant closing is to take place. As a result of lowering the
size threshold for employer coverage under the act from 100 full-time employees and lowering
the size threshold for covered employment losses from at least 50 full-time employees, H.R. 3042
and S. 1374 would expand the scope of the WARN Act. The bills also would authorize DOL to
attempt to resolve administratively complaints of WARN Act violations and to bring civil actions
on behalf of workers. Further, the Secretary of Labor and the governor of the state in which
affected worksites are located would be added to those receiving notices. H.R. 3042 and S. 1374
would in turn require the Secretary to notify the appropriate Senators and House Members of
impending layoffs and closings not later than 15 days after employers provided the notice to
DOL. The bills would increase to two days the back pay penalty for violations of the notice
requirement to which employers are subject as well.
Contents
Legislative Activity: Past and Present..........................................................................................1
Summary of the WARN Act ........................................................................................................3
Length and Intent of the Act's Advance Notice Requirement .................................................3
Whom Does the Act Cover? ..................................................................................................4
Part-Time Employees ......................................................................................................4
Employees Not Entitled to Notice ...................................................................................4
Closings and Layoffs to Which the Act Applies .....................................................................5
Exceptions to or Exemptions from P.L. 100-379....................................................................6
Transfers or Reassignments.............................................................................................6
Sale of a Business ...........................................................................................................6
Strikes and Lockouts .......................................................................................................6
Enforcement and Penalties ....................................................................................................7
Contacts
Author Contact Information ........................................................................................................7
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 8:52 AM
