WARN Act in New Jersey Just Got Super-Sized
February 06, 2020
Employers doing mass layoffs in New Jersey will not only need to provide proper advance notice, they will also now need to pay mandated severance.Employers will need to pay a week’s wages for each year of service to all employees in a mass layoff of 50 or more. Employers will also now need to provide 90 days’ advance notice, not the 60 days required under current federal and New Jersey law.Employers that fail to provide the proper 90 days’ notice will owe employees an extra four weeks’ severance pay. The New Jersey law goes into effect on July 19, 2020. Many of the nuances of the federal WARN law are also being eliminated under the New Jersey law.No longer will the focus be on a “single site of employment,” but rather on all facilities in the state.Part-time and newer employees (even those with less than six months’ tenure) will also count when calculating the 50-employee trigger.
