What Employers Must Tell Workers and Officials 60 Days Before a Plant Closing

Larger US employers that plan to close a site or cut a large group of jobs must tell workers and public officials at least 60 days in advance. The requirement comes from the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, known as the WARN Act. It applies only when an employer and a job cut meet specific size tests.

State laws can add to the federal rule, and Ohio's 2025 law is one example covered below.

Which Employers Are Covered

Under the federal definition at 29 U.S.C. § 2101, an employer is any business enterprise that employs 100 or more employees, excluding part-time employees. A business also qualifies if it has 100 or more employees, including part-time workers, who together work at least 4,000 hours a week, excluding overtime.

Employees who have worked fewer than six of the 12 months before notice is required, or who work fewer than 20 hours a week, do not count toward the 100, according to 29 U.S.C. § 2101(a)(8). The same guide says federal, state and local government entities that provide public services are not covered. Managers and supervisors are included among the employees who are entitled to notice.

Plant Closings and Mass Layoffs Defined

A plant closing is the permanent or temporary shutdown of a single site of employment, or of one or more facilities or operating units within it, that causes an employment loss for 50 or more employees, excluding part-time employees, during any 30-day period, according to the statute as published by Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute.

A mass layoff is a reduction in force that is not a plant closing and that produces an employment loss during any 30-day period. It is covered if it affects at least 500 employees, excluding part-time workers. It is also covered if it affects at least 50 employees who make up at least 33 percent of the employees at the site, excluding part-time workers. The 33 percent test does not apply once 500 or more workers are affected.

The statute defines employment loss to include an employment termination other than a discharge for cause, a voluntary departure or a retirement. It also includes a layoff exceeding six months, or a cut of more than 50 percent in hours in each month of any six-month period. The DOL guide also describes a 90-day window for certain related layoffs that are counted together, which is broader than the 30-day period in the definitions.

Who Receives Notice and Where the Exceptions Apply

Under 29 U.S.C. § 2102, the employer must give written notice to each representative of the affected employees. If there is no representative, notice goes to each affected employee. Notice also goes to the state entity that handles rapid response activities and to the chief elected official of the local government where the closing or layoff will happen. If more than one local government qualifies, the employer notifies the one to which it pays the highest taxes for the year preceding the year for which the determination is made. The employer may not order the closing or layoff until 60 days after it serves the notice.

The statute allows a shorter notice period in two situations and excuses notice in a third. The first is a faltering company, where the employer was actively seeking capital or business that could avoid or postpone the shutdown, and reasonably and in good faith believed that giving the notice required would have precluded the employer from obtaining the needed capital or business. The second is unforeseeable business circumstances, meaning circumstances that were not reasonably foreseeable when notice would otherwise have been required. The third is a natural disaster, such as a flood, earthquake or drought, for which no notice is required under 29 U.S.C. § 2102(b)(2)(B).

An employer relying on subsection (b) of 29 U.S.C. § 2102 must still give as much notice as is practicable and a brief statement of the basis for reducing the notification period. The DOL guide also says WARN does not apply to the closure of temporary facilities, or to the completion of an activity when workers were hired only for the duration of that activity.

Penalties, Back Pay and Legal Fees

An employer that violates the notice rules is liable to each aggrieved employee for back pay and benefits for the period of the violation, up to a maximum of 60 days. Under 29 U.S.C. § 2104, the back pay period can never exceed one-half the number of days the employee worked for the employer. Back pay is calculated at a rate of not less than the higher of the employee's average regular rate over the last three years or the final regular rate. Benefits include medical expenses that would have been covered during the employment loss. The DOL guide says this liability may be reduced by any notice given and any voluntary payments made.

An employer that fails to notify the local government faces a civil penalty of up to $500 per day of violation. The penalty does not apply if the employer pays each aggrieved employee the amount owed within three weeks. The statute measures those three weeks from the date the shutdown or layoff is ordered, while the DOL guide measures them from the closing or layoff. A court may reduce liability or penalties if the employer shows good faith and reasonable grounds for believing its act was not a violation.

Workers, their representatives and local government units may bring individual or class action suits in U.S. district courts. The court may allow the prevailing party a reasonable attorney's fee as part of the costs.

State Mini-WARN Rules: The Ohio Example

Some states have their own versions of the rule. Ohio's law, Ohio Revised Code § 4113.31, was signed by Governor Mike DeWine on July 1, 2025, and its WARN provision took effect September 29, 2025, according to a Littler Mendelson analysis. It uses the federal definitions of mass layoff and plant closing and requires 60 days' notice to affected employees, union representatives and the state Director of Job and Family Services.

Ohio adds content requirements. Notice must also go to the chief elected officials of both the municipality and the county where the event occurs. Notices to non-union employees must state whether the employee has bumping or reemployment rights and how to use them. They must also explain how to access unemployment insurance, name an employer contact and describe available services such as job placement, retraining or counseling. Littler says it is unclear whether a copy of every individual notice must be sent, and that Ohio WARN does not appear to include a short-form notice option.

According to Littler, Ohio WARN does not include a civil penalty recoverable by the state or any provision permitting the state or local governments to sue. Its damages for affected employees follow the federal WARN Act.