Companies Using Scattered Layoffs as a Means to Avoid WARN Act Policies
In light of the economic downturn, many major corporations began laying off employees by the thousands. A recent article in The New York Times stipulated companies are attempting to carry out scattered layoffs to avoid high profile publicity and the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act policies. The WARN Act requires 60 days’ notice prior to a layoff of 500 or more people at one location or a cut of at least one-third of the work force at a site. The WARN Act also requires 60 days’ notice if an entire plant or location closes. Generally, companies will provide 30 days' notice before a layoff if notification is not required by law, though many states have passed their own WARN Acts to cover smaller scale layoffs.
Today, companies are not hesitating to make layoff announcements and managers are attempting to demonstrate that they are taking an active stance in cutting company expenses. However, some companies are choosing to layoff fewer employees at a time and are being less forthcoming with information about these layoffs. In many instances, employees are left to find out about smaller layoffs through blogs, employee message boards and union groups. Labor experts have recently made a few suggestions to strengthen the WARN Act such as adopting the California threshold of 50 people let go at one site, or a national standard, requiring 60 days’ notice if a layoff includes 1,000 or more employees nationally. Regardless of the laws in place to protect employees in the instance of a mass layoff, companies should have policies in place to better handle the dismissal of workers, particularly in such trying economic times.
