• Employers covered by the WARN Act must comply with the regulations.

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires employers to provide notice 60 days in advance of covered plant closings and covered mass layoffs. Notice must be provided to:

• Affected workers or worker representatives,
• The state dislocated worker unit, and
• The appropriate unit of local government.

Employer and employee coverage

Employers are covered by the WARN Act if the company has 100 or more full-time employees, not counting employees who worked less than six of the last 12 months or those who work an average of less than 20 hours a week (state laws may cover smaller employers).

All private employers are covered, as are public and quasi-public entities that operate in a commercial context and that are separately organized from the regular government. Regular federal, state, and local government entities which provide public services are not covered.

Employees entitled to notice include hourly and salaried workers, as well as managerial and supervisory employees. Business partners are not entitled to notice.