Layoffs and Lay-Ups (Part 1)

File 24:  In today’s file, the team begins a 2-part discussion on the job market.  In this episode, they’ll focus on layoffs.  Several clients have reached out to Jamie and Molley to plan for potential layoffs and the specific steps companies are required to take. 

In File 11 (Breaking Up Is Hard to Do), the team discussed the topic of separating with dignity.  This might be a good reference point. 

Legal Considerations Involving a Layoff

To begin, it’s important to note none of this should be considered legal advice, as the members of the WTF Podcast team are not lawyers.  However, they’ve been involved in these situations and are prepared to share some perspectives and tips.  Today’s discussion might provide an outline for a series of questions you might want to review with your business attorney.

Information regarding the WARN Act can be found on the Department of Labor’s website.  It’s the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification.  This Act ensures advanced notice in cases of qualified plant closings. 

When are Employers Required to Provide Advance Notice to Employees of a Layoffs or a Plant Closure?

Jamie explains that if you are an employer planning a layoff, plant closure or significant reduction in work hours, you are required to do a WARN notice.  It must be filed with the unemployment office.  The threshold is that you must have over 100 full-time workers, excluding workers who have been there for less than 6-months, or who work less than 20 hours per week.  If you’re laying off 50 or more people, at a single site, or if you employ more than 100 workers who work at least a combined 4,000 hours.

Please note, there are many other group descriptions that should be reviewed in determining your specific requirements.

The benefit to this process is that it can help the various community resources to engage in planning and coordination to assist affected workers in the area.  It also provides 60-day notice so that the affected employees can make plans regarding their individual situations.  Jamie notes that the time and notice can make a difference for continued employment for those impacted employees. 

What Can Companies Do to Help Employees Affected by a Layoff?

Jason comments that the notification, per the WARN Act, goes to the local career centers and unemployment offices.  Once notified, those agencies can provide inf