What a WARN notice must include, by recipient

A federal WARN notice is not one letter but four kinds of notice, each with its own required contents under 20 CFR 639.7: to each affected employee (where there is no union), to the employees’ union representative, to the state dislocated worker unit, and to the chief elected official of the local government. Employers with 100 or more full-time employees owe them at least 60 days before a covered plant closing or mass layoff. See the WARN Act explained for who is covered.

Required contents

Recipient	Must include
Affected employees without a union	In language they can understand: whether the action is permanent or temporary and whether the entire plant is closing; the expected date the closing or layoff starts and the date of the employee’s own separation; whether bumping rights exist; a company official to contact, with a phone number
Union representative	Name and address of the site and a company official to contact; permanent or temporary, and whether the entire plant is closing; expected date of the first separation and the schedule for the rest; job titles of affected positions and the names of the workers holding them
State dislocated worker unit	Site name and address and a company contact; permanent or temporary; expected date of the first separation and the schedule; job titles of affected positions and the number of affected employees in each; whether bumping rights exist; the name of each union and its chief elected officer
Chief elected local official	Same as the state notice; the rule allows sending a shorter version (site, contact, first separation date, number of affected employees) if the rest is kept on site and available

State laws add to this

California’s WARN law covers employers with 75 or more employees and requires 60 days’ notice; New York’s covers employers with 50 or more full-time employees in the state and requires 90 days. Their notices have their own required contents and recipients.

Plan the records, too

Layoffs leave mailboxes, drives and tickets without owners. Decide before the separation dates how accounts will be suspended, transferred or kept, so nothing is deleted by accident. See offboarding accounts after layoffs.