How the WARN Act protects employees at large employers

Failure to give 60 days' advance notice under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act is costly: employers with 100 or more employees who close a plant or conduct a mass layoff can face liability for back pay and health benefits for each affected worker for up to 60 days. The U.S. Department of Labor enforces the WARN Act framework that governs these notices, and the law is the primary federal safeguard for employees at large employers.

Coverage turns on clear numeric tests. An employer generally must provide notice if it has 100 or more full-time employees, counting workers who average at least 20 hours per week or who have worked at least six months in the prior 12 months. Part-time workers who average fewer than 20 hours per week are excluded from that headcount. Human resources teams at large technology companies should audit U.S. headcounts site by site to determine whether a planned action crosses the 100-employee threshold.

The law defines the triggering events with specific employee counts. A plant closing requires notice when the action results in an employment loss for 50 or more employees at a single site. A mass layoff becomes a WARN event when 500 or more employees lose work, or when 50 to 499 employees are laid off and that number represents at least 33 percent of the employer’s active workforce. For example, closing a Seattle office that eliminates 60 roles would typically meet the 50-employee plant-closing trigger and obligate the employer to give 60 days’ notice.

Notices must go beyond mere timing. Employers are required to give written notice to each affected employee, to the state dislocated worker unit, and to the chief elected official of the local government where the site is located. Notices should identify the expected date of the closing or layoff, the job titles of affected employees, a contact person and telephone number for the employer, and whether the employer intends to provide reemployment assistance. That information helps state workforce agencies mobilize unemployment services and retraining for displaced workers.

The WARN Act also contains narrow exceptions and remedies that shape corporate decisions. Employers can invoke unforeseeable business circumstances, the faltering employer doctrine, or natural disaster exceptions when appropriate, but relying on an exception is risky without legal counsel. Remedies for failing to comply include back pay and health benefits for up to 60 days and other civil liabilities. For Monday.com people leaders and managers at other large tech firms, the practical steps are specific: run site-level headcounts, engage employment counsel before announcing reductions, and build a 60-day compliance timeline into any restructuring so that employees receive timely, required notice.