Strategic HR Lawyer

New York State recently passed its very own "New York State Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act."   Many other states have enacted their own versions of this type of legislation and this one, like some of the others, is far more expansive than the Federal WARN.

Expected to take effect in February 2009, the law adds a new Article 25-A to the State Labor Law. Here are some of the general provisions:

• it requires employers with 50 or more full-time employees to provide at least 90 days notice to affected employees and representatives of affected employees, the New York State Department of Labor, and local workforce partners before ordering a mass layoff, relocation, or employment loss;
• it provides exceptions to the notice requirement, including that:
  1. the need for notice was not reasonably foreseeable at the time the notice would have been required;
  2. the employer was actively seeking capital or business at the time the notice was required and met certain other conditions; and
  3. the closing or layoff was due to a natural disaster;
• it makes an employer in violation of the article liable for back pay and other employee benefits for 60 days of the violation;
• it provides for a civil penalty of $500 per day of violation.

This law is in contrast to Federal WARN which:

• requires only 60 days notice;
• applies only to employers with 100 employees or more and requires a larger number of affected employees before the notice provisions are triggered; and
• it does not provide for administrative enforcement.