The New York State WARN Act

Next time the company layoff employees, will it follow the NY State WARN Act or will it look for a loophole to not abide by the law ? When they laid people off in 2024, how is it that the WARN law wasn't violated ?
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The New York State WARN Act requires businesses to give early warning of closing and layoffs. WARN notices DO NOT need to be submitted to DOL from businesses that employ less than 50 full-time employees.

The WARN Act applies to private businesses with 50 or more full-time employees in New York State. It covers:

Closings affecting 25 or more employees
Mass layoffs involving 25 or more full-time employees (if the 25 or more employees make up at least 33% of all the employees at the site)
Mass layoffs involving 250 or more full-time employees
Certain other relocations and covered reductions in work hours
This means that covered businesses must provide all employees with notice 90 days prior to a:

Plant closing
Mass layoff
Relocation
Other covered reduction in work hours
Businesses that do not provide notice may be required to:

Pay back wages and benefits to employees
Pay a civil penalty
Businesses must give notice to:

All affected employees
Any employee representative(s)
The New York State Department of Labor (DOL)
The Local Workforce Development Board (LWDB)
The chief elected official of the unit or units of local government where the site of employment is located
The school district or districts where the site of employment is located
Each locality that provides police, firefighting, emergency medical or ambulance services, or other emergency services, to the locale where the site of employment is located
Early warning gives the DOL and the LWDB the chance to work with the business early on and provide employees with information about:

Unemployment Insurance (UI)
Workforce Programs
Resources designed to get employees back to work quickly
Early warning also benefits the business. It can shorten the time that employees are on UI. It therefore may lower the UI charges associated with the layoff or closing.

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6 replies (most recent on top)

Laid off employees, even if in "violation" of the WARN ACT, were certainly given a long list of things they cannot do to receive their last crumbs on the way out the door. Standard practice in almost every industry. You sign away your rights for the check, or you can decline the severance, if you want to pursue further legal options.

Benefits - cut.
People - cut.
Future - cut.

Perhaps you guys should have stayed at a Holliday Inn Express last night. WARN Act was not violated.

They kept it under the number of employees laid off so that WARN wasn’t required

Quote:
"But you never know with the band of id--ts running HR."

HR in MOA does not make the decision for layoffs, the CEO does. Secondly all of these type of actions are run thru the Legal dep't ,and could also include outside legal opinion.

However it still may be possible thay violated the law. They were sued by their own employees before and lost the case.

The WARN act isn’t new, and every laid off employee signed a long legal waiver in order to receive benefits such as severance, medical and back vacation pay. So one would think that the company took the act into consideration. But you never know with the band of id--ts running HR.

In reading the text of the act, it is my opinion the company violated the warn act twice.

Thread regarding Mutual of America Life layoffs

The New York State WARN Act

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