Plant Closings: A covered employer must give notice if an employment
site (or one or more facilities or operating units within an employment site)
will be shut down, and the shutdown will result in an employment loss for 50
or more employees during an 30-day period. This does not count employees who
have worked less than 6 months in the last 12 months or employees who have worked
less than 6 months in the last 12 months or employees who work an average of
less than 20 hours a week for that employer. These latter groups, however, are
entitled to notice.
Mass Layoff: A covered employer must give notice if there is to be a
mass layoff which does not result from a plant closing, but which will result
in an employment loss at the employment site during any 30-day period or 500
or more employees, or for 50-499 employees if they make up at least 33% of the
employer’s active workforce. Again this does not count employees who have
worked less than 6 months in the last 12 months or employees who work an average
of less than 20 hours a week for that employer. These latter groups, however,
are entitled to notice.
An employer must give notice if the number of employment losses which
occur during a 30-day period fails to meet the threshold requirements of a plant
closing or mass layoff, but the number of employment losses for 2 or more groups
of workers, each of which is less than the minimum number needed to triggers
notice, reaches the threshold level, during any 90-day period, of either a plant
closing or mass layoff. Job losses within any 90-day period will count together
toward the WARN threshold levels, unless the employer demonstrates that the
employment losses during the 90-day period are the result of separate and distinct
actions and causes.