Two years after Governor Murphy signed Senate Bill 3170 into law, amending the Millville Dallas Airmotive Plant Job Loss Notification Act, New Jersey’s mini-WARN Act (“NJ WARN Act”), employers are still left wondering when the sweeping changes will become effective. The amendments were originally scheduled to take effect on July 19, 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the effective date was delayed until 90 days after “termination of Executive Order 103 of 2020,” which declared a “State of Emergency” and “Public Health Emergency.” 

Throughout the pandemic, Governor Murphy renewed Executive Order 103 every 30 days until June 4, 2021. On June 4, 2021, he issued Executive Order 244, ending the Public Health Emergency declared in Executive Order 103, but expressly retained the State of Emergency. The Governor’s Office and the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office have taken the position that Executive Order 103 shall remain in effect, further delaying the NJ WARN Act’s amendments from taking effect. More recently, on Jan. 11, 2022, Governor Murphy issued Executive Order 280, declaring the existence of a new Public Health Emergency in response to the Omicron variant and confirming that the State of Emergency declared in Executive Order 103 remains in full force and effect across all counties in New Jersey.