Your Rights Under the California WARN Act

The California Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) is a set of regulations that provide protection to workers when their employer engages in a mass layoff, plant closure, or major relocation. As an employee, you have rights under the WARN Act, and if those rights are violated by your employer you may have a case for compensation. To learn more about whether you have an action under these state regulations, talk to an experienced California employment law attorney in your area today.

Rights Under the WARN Act

Under the WARN Act, covered employers must provide a minimum of sixty days’ notice to workers and certain government entities before engaging in a mass layoff, relocation, or plant closure. This Act is one of the exceptions to California’s at-will employment, which allows a worker to quit for any reason or for an employer to terminate employment for almost any reason. The WARN Act defines a mass layoff as the termination of 50 or more jobs within a 30-day period due to a lack of work or of funds. A relocation is defined as moving all or substantially all of the operations to a new location that is at least one hundred miles away, and a plant closure refers to the cessation or substantial cessation of operations at a location.

Who is Covered?

The WARN Act applies to California workers if both of the following are true — the worker has been employed for at least six of the 12 months prior to when notice is required, and there are at least 75 employees or there have been within 12 months of required notification. Exceptions to the WARN Act include mass layoffs, plant closure, or relocation due to natural disaster, physical calamity, or an act of war, nor does it apply to temporary workers who were hired specifically for a single project or undertaking once it is complete. Lastly, the Act does not apply if at the time when notice would be required the employer was actively seeking capital or business that would keep the company operational or avoid a relocation, and that the employer believed in good faith that providing notice would have prevented obtaining the capital it needed.

Compensation for WARN Act Violations

If an employer fails to give notice prior to a mass layoff, relocation, or plant closure the employees affected may have a valid claim against the business. Compensation for violations of the WARN Act include back pay for the time period of the violation and the value of any benefits that would have accrued during that time, as well. The violation time is calculated as the lesser of either one-half of the time employed by the employer or the period of time between 60 days prior to losing the job and the day that notification was actually given.

Talk to a Lawyer

Do you have more questions about the WARN Act in California? Call or contact an experienced attorney near you today to learn more.