Layoffs and restructuring

Before a layoff, check two things: whether WARN notice applies and what you must keep. The federal WARN Act covers employers with 100 or more full-time employees and requires 60 days’ written notice before a plant closing or mass layoff. Several states have their own versions with lower thresholds or longer notice; New York, for example, requires 90 days. Then plan final pay, benefits and COBRA, and the records you keep after people leave.

Records to keep after a layoff

Employee files outlive the employment. Form I-9s, for example, must be kept for three years after the hire date or one year after employment ends, whichever is later. Payroll and employment tax records follow IRS rules. Keep the departing team’s email, documents and tickets too: they hold how the work was done, and the people who knew it are leaving.

Steps to plan a layoff

1. Count who is affected, by site, over the next 30 and 90 days. That decides whether federal or state WARN applies.
2. Give notice where required: 60 days under federal WARN, 90 days under New York’s law.
3. Prepare final pay and benefits: final paychecks under your state’s timing rules, COBRA notices, any severance agreements.
4. Collect equipment and transfer knowledge. Move ownership of documents, mailboxes and tickets before access is removed.
5. Keep the records you are required to keep, and archive accounts rather than deleting them.

Where company records fit

A smaller team often means fewer software seats and a temptation to delete old accounts. Archive them instead. Years of business records can also have value outside the company: some AI developers license de-identified copies, which can bring in cash without taking on debt or giving up equity.