As of Sunday, more New York employers will have to give workers a heads-up about a proposed plant closing or mass layoff, and give the notices much earlier.
The state Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification act, or WARN, is a tougher version of a federal law with the same name:
- It covers companies with at least 50 full-time employees, versus 100 under the federal law.
- It requires at least a 90-day written advance notice for a mass layoff or plant closing, versus 60 days under the federal statute.
- It is triggered when at least 25 employees are laid off, if they make up 33 percent of the workforce, or when a company lays off at least 250 full-time employees. That contrasts with the federal provision, which is triggered when a company lays off 500 employees or 50 to 499 workers, if they make up at least 33 percent of the workforce.
Source: Newsday.com