For many workers, layoffs feel sudden—but workers can get some advance warning under a law that went into effect in 1988.
Thousands of Americans have been laid off this year as companies adjust to an automated world, and thousands more Americans are expected to be laid off before the year ends. Under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, companies are required to notify the government of their intent to lay off employees, and the notices usually coincide with employees being told about the layoffs, though they can be filed ahead of a companywide announcement.
Employees who want to check whether their company is planning to cut jobs can review WARN filings either by using a tracker that compiles filings from different states or by looking them up on their state’s website.
What the WARN Act Is—and Why It Exists
The WARN Act is a federal labor law enacted in 1988 and has been in effect since 1989. It requires certain employers to provide 60 days’ advance written notice before major job losses occur, including plant closures and large layoffs.
The goal is to give workers time to prepare—searching for new jobs, applying for unemployment benefits, or pursuing retraining—while also giving states and local governments time to mobilize job-search and assistance programs.
The law applies nationwide, but many states, including New York, California and New Jersey, have so‑called “mini‑WARN” laws that expand protections, lower the threshold for coverage or require longer notice periods.
A WARN notice signals that an employer intends to carry out layoffs or a closure on or after a specified date. It does not guarantee every job listed will ultimately be eliminated, nor does it specify which individual workers will be affected.
How Workers Can Search WARN Notices Themselves
Because WARN notices are public records, workers do not need their employer’s permission to view them.
State Labor Department Databases
Most states host searchable WARN databases on their labor department websites. New York, for example, publishes filings through its WARN Dashboard, which allows users to search by company name, county, industry, or date, and download notices as PDFs.
These dashboards often show:
- The employer’s name
- The number of employees affected
- The planned layoff or closure date
- Whether the action is temporary or permanent
Coverage and transparency vary by state, and some states release data with delays or limited detail. Other states release as much information as possible, including posting the letter the company sent to the government notifying it of its intent to lay people off. Those letters can provide information on whether the layoffs are intended to be permanent, whether jobs could be brought back, and the reason behind the layoffs.
National WARN Trackers
Several independent websites aggregate WARN filings nationwide, allowing workers to search across states.
Sites such as WarnTracker.com compile publicly available WARN notices, list future layoff dates, and let users search by company name or sign up for email alerts when an employer files a notice.
Which Companies Have to File WARN Notices
The law generally applies to private for‑profit and nonprofit employers with 100 or more full‑time employees. Government employers are not covered. A WARN notice is required when one of two events occurs at a single site of employment:
- A plant closing, defined as a shutdown—temporary or permanent—that results in job loss for 50 or more full‑time employees during any 30‑day period.
- A mass layoff, which is not a plant closing, but results in:
- At least 50 employees are losing jobs, and that group makes up at least 33 percent of the workforce at that site
- 500 or more employees laid off, regardless of percentage
Part‑time workers, defined federally as employees working fewer than 20 hours per week or employed for fewer than six of the previous 12 months, are not counted toward the threshold, but they are still entitled to notice if a covered layoff occurs.
When Companies Are Required to File WARN Notices
Federal law requires covered employers to give notice at least 60 calendar days before the first layoff or closure date. That written notice must be sent to:
- Affected employees or their union representatives
- The state’s dislocated worker unit
- The chief elected official of the local government where the layoffs will occur
Because states receive these notices in advance, many publish them online—sometimes weeks or months before workers hear directly from their employer.
The law does allow limited exceptions, including layoffs caused by unforeseeable business circumstances or natural disasters, but even in those cases, employers must provide notice as soon as practicable and explain why full notice was not possible.
When Employees Are Supposed to Be Told
In many cases, employees are legally required to receive a WARN notice at the same time state and local officials do: 60 days before the first job loss.
However, in practice, employers may delay internal announcements until closer to the layoff date, particularly if workers are not immediately affected or if layoffs will happen in stages. That gap is one reason workers sometimes discover upcoming layoffs through public WARN filings before hearing from management.
Failure to provide proper notice can expose employers to back pay and penalties, but enforcement happens through private lawsuits in federal court—not through automatic government penalties.
Not every layoff triggers WARN. Smaller reductions, staggered layoffs that fall below legal thresholds, and layoffs at small employers may never appear in public databases. And because some states do not publish WARN data consistently, a missing notice does not mean a company is in the clear. It’s also possible that jobs are saved after a WARN notice is filed. In some cases, that’s been because a company has been acquired or because employees have been offered a different role within the company.
Read the full article here
