WARN Act New York

Introduction

The Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification (Act) is a government-mandated labour law put in place to protect employees from sudden economic instability. It stipulates employers must put out an official notice of mass layoffs and plant closures. While the WARN Act is put in place to protect all U.S. employees, states such as California, Illinois and New York have provisions specific to their state. In this blog, we will explore the WARN Act in New York. We will look a little closer into its specific stipulations, how it differs from the federal WARN Act and discuss the new additions to the WARN Act in New York.

Overview of the New York WARN Act

What are the New York WARN Act requirements? How do they apply to me? How many days am I entitled notice? 

These are common questions associated with understanding how New York aims to protect its employees by holding their employers accountable.

Below, we have sectioned out the main provisions under the WARN Act New York.

1 - Accountable Organizations 

New York requires any organization with a minimum of 50 employees to give out notice. Therefore, if a given establishment has 50 or more employees, the employees are automatically entitled to a notice under the WARN Act.

2 - Employee Number Requirements 

A plant closure that results in a layoff of over 25 employees within a 30-day period requires notice. 

Furthermore, a mass layoff of more than 25% of overall employees are laid off within the same stipulation of a 30-day period, a WARN notice is required. It is important to note, this refers to 25% of the employees of the minimum 25 full-time employees. 

3 - Advance Notice Required

Organizations fulfilling the discussed requirements must provide a 90-day notice period to affected employees. 

4 - Relocation Requirements 

New York additionally requires employers to give notice for relocations that are over 50 miles away. 

Overall, employers with a minimum of 50 employees are required to give a 90-day notice for plant closures that affect over 25 of their employees, mass layoffs of more than 25% of all employees and relocations that are over 50 miles away. Notices must be reported to employee representatives, the New York Department of Labour and local Workforce Investment boards.

Key differences between the federal WARN Act and the New York WARN Act

As previously mentioned, the federal WARN Act differs from the New York WARN Act. Find tabulated the key differences between the federal WARN Act and the New York WARN Act.

With the differences clearly outlined in the table, it is evident the New York WARN Act requirements are tighter on employers. Stipulations such as a 90-day notice period vs a 60-day notice period give employees more time to steady themselves following the notice of relocation, mass layoff or plant closing. A reduction from 100 employees to 50 employees expands the number of organizations that have to comply with WARN Act regulations, therefore, increasing transparency. 

Recent developments to the New York State WARN Act

As of June 2023, the New York State Department of Labour published updated regulations under the WARN Act. Some key changes include:

1. Remote employees are to be included under full-time employees. This means they are to be counted in the assessment of whether an employer meets the fifty-employee threshold.
2. Employers must now provide notice to individuals such as the chief elected official of the unit of local government and the school district where the site of employment is located. The locality that provides the police, firefighting and emergency medical services should be notified as well. 
3. The Notice to the Commissioner of Labour must now include details such: the complete legal business name including any previous names used in the operation of the business, business address and email addresses for the employer’s and employees’ agents. Personal details such as personal telephone numbers and email addresses may be included if they are known. The job title, work location, status of employment (full-time or part-time), method of payment, union affiliation of each laid-off employee and the total number of full-time and part-time employees in New York State at the given affected site must be provided in addition to any additional information initially required by the commissioner. 

These are but a few of the updates, stipulated under the recent New York WARN Act division. For additional information, check out Amendments to New York WARN Act Now in Effect.

Conclusion 

On top of its already thorough requirements and its expansive criteria, the New York State Department of Labour continues to make steps forward to protect its employees from sudden financial instability. It is now up to you as an employee to take advantage of the resources availed to you to keep your employer accountable in uncertain times such as in mass layoffs. Being safe is being educated.