The economy still isn’t quite booming these days, and many businesses—especially those in the oil sector—are experiencing large-scale employee layoffs. When faced with mass downsizing, there are certain labor and employment law protocols that must be followed. Jordan Faykus of Baker & McKenzie focuses on the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires 60 days of advance written notice of plant closings and mass layoffs.
Here are some of his tips for complying with WARN regulations during layoffs:
- Reductions in Force: “Companies must be careful of these rules so as not to spark litigation or incur the costly penalties associated with a WARN violation,” Faykus says, noting that oftentimes a reduction in force also triggers the notice obligations, which can easily overlooked.
- Calculating the Time Period: WARN considers the employment losses within a 30-day period of an event, such as a plant closing or a mass layoff. If WARN obligations are triggered by the termination of 50 employees for a company, it can’t avoid the legislation by firing 30 employees on day one and 20 employees 28 days later.
- Aggregate Terminations: “In addition to looking at the employment losses that occur over any given 30-day period, WARN also includes a 90-day aggregation rule,” says Faykus. This means employers must look 90 days ahead and 90 days behind to determine whether multiple terminations could equal the total minimum numbers to qualify as an event under WARN.
