New Jersey has amended its mini-Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. The amendments (Amendments) were originally to take effect in July 2020, but implementation was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that Governor Murphy has signed Assembly Bill 4768, the expanded provisions are effective on April 10, 2023, and require employers with 100 or more employees to:
- Provide 90 days’ notice (previously 60 days’) to affected employees as part of a mass layoff, plant closing or transfer of operations;
- Provide mandatory severance pay equal to one week of pay for each full year of employment (a first-of-its-kind mini-WARN requirement nationwide);
- Reduce the number of employees needed to qualify for a mass layoff at, or reporting to, a particular establishment to 50 employees during any 30-day period (instead of 500 or more full-time employees during any 30-day period or 50 or more full-time employees representing at least one-third of the workforce); and
- Include part-time employees so they count toward the employee threshold and also are entitled to 90 days’ notice and severance pay (previously only full-time employees counted).
- The expanded provisions also broaden the definition of an establishment so that counting employees is not limited to a single site of employment.
Employers who fail to provide 90 days’ notice to covered employees must pay them an additional four weeks of severance.
The amendments also impose personal liability on anyone acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer if they fail to comply with the notice and severance provisions.
Still excluded from the state’s mini-WARN Act are mass layoffs due to natural disasters or emergencies, including:
- An act of war;
- Civil disorder;
- Fire;
- Flood; or
- Industrial sabotage.
Next Steps for Employers
Covered New Jersey employers that are considering a mass layoff, plant closing, or relocation will need to comply with the expanded requirements and should ensure that they understand the changes so that they can determine whether they will be required to provide the required 90-day notice and severance pay to impacted employees.
It is also recommended that employers receive guidance from their legal counsel on all the aspects of the law as compliance with this law can be complicated, and because certain members of management who are directly or indirectly involved in making decisions about layoffs may be liable for failure to comply with law.
