Gibbons Law Alert

Gibbons Law Alert

Tagged: Worker Adjustment Retraining and Notification Act (WARN)

New Jersey WARN Act Amendments to Go Into Effect

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Posted in Reductions in Force

On January 11, 2023

Yesterday, Governor Murphy signed into law legislation removing the hold on amendments to the New Jersey WARN Act (officially, the Millville Dallas Airmotive Plant Job Loss Notification Act), enacted by the Legislature in January 2020, but suspended in March of that year. Back then the Legislature decided that, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, these amendments should not take effect until 90 days after Governor Murphy rescinded his Executive Order declaring a State of Emergency. That Executive Order remains in effect, but because of yesterday’s action, the 2020 amendments will now take effect April 10, 2023. These amendments greatly expand the scope of the Act and, consequently, the burden the Act places on employers. The Act now ends the distinction between full-time and part-time employees in two important respects. For the first time, part-time employees will be counted to determine whether an employee has at least 100 employees in New Jersey, thus subjecting an employer to the Act’s obligations. Also for the first time, part-time employees are to be counted when determining whether a sufficient number of employees will be terminated to trigger the Act’s notice obligations. Employers must now give 90-days’ notice of an upcoming “mass layoff,” “termination of operations,” or “transfer of operations.” Previously, only 60-days’ notice was required. The Act’s definition of a...

The WARN Act and the Coronavirus Epidemic

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Posted in Reductions in Force

On March 26, 2020

As the coronavirus epidemic continues to impact the economy, employers are faced with the prospect of shutting down their operations or continuing operations with a significantly reduced workforce for an indeterminate period of time. Employers anticipating the need for significant workforce reductions should be mindful of whether these reductions will implicate the federal WARN Act, and companies with employees in New Jersey and/or New York must also pay attention to the WARN Acts in effect in those states. This article will first briefly outline the requirements of the federal, New Jersey, and New York WARN statutes and will then discuss those requirements in the context of workforce reductions necessitated by the current crisis. The WARN Statutes The WARN statutes are extremely complicated, but, as a rule of thumb, whenever a New Jersey employer is contemplating terminating at least 50 employees, the employer should seek advice from counsel familiar with the federal and New Jersey WARN statutes. Should either of those statutes apply, the affected employees must be given at least 60 days’ notice of their terminations unless a statutory exception permits a lesser period of notice. As a rule of thumb, employers in New York should seek advice from counsel when contemplating terminating at least 25 employees. Should the New York WARN statute apply, the...

New Jersey Amends Its WARN Act to Extend Advance Notice and Require Severance Pay

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Posted in Reductions in Force

On February 3, 2020

The New Jersey “Millville Dallas Airmotive Plant Job Loss Notification Act” (“NJ WARN Act” or “Act”), which requires covered employers to provide employees (and designated state and local government officials) with advance notice of covered “mass layoffs,” the shutdown of an establishment, or transfers of operations, was recently amended to place more onerous obligations on New Jersey employers. Senate Bill 3170, which becomes effective July 19, 2020, requires employers to provide 90 days’ (instead of 60 days’) notice to affected employees. The Act also contains enhanced severance provisions, requiring employers to pay severance to all affected employees, even those who receive proper notice under the Act. As a preliminary matter, many of the NJ WARN Act’s definitions have been amended, greatly expanding the Act’s reach. For example, “employer” is now more broadly defined to include “any individual, partnership, association, corporation, or any person or group of persons acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee, and includes any person who, directly or indirectly, owns and operates the nominal employer, or owns a corporate subsidiary that, directly or indirectly, owns and operates the nominal employer or makes the decision responsible for the employment action that gives rise to a mass layoff subject to notification.” Under this expanded definition, the...

NJ WARN Act May Apply to Parent and Affiliated Companies

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Posted in Reductions in Force

On June 20, 2011

The Millville Dallas Airmotive Plant Job Loss Notification Act (the “New Jersey WARN Act”), may apply not only to the direct employer, but also to parent and affiliated companies if certain factors are present. In DeRosa v. Accredited Home Lenders, Inc., et al., the New Jersey Appellate Division concluded that, “in determining single-employer status under the New Jersey WARN Act, [] courts should apply the five-factor test” applicable to its federal counterpart, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 (the federal WARN Act). Those factors, set forth at 20 C.F.R. 639.3(a)(2) are:”(i) common ownership, (ii) common directors and/or officers, (iii) de facto exercise of control, (iv) unity of personnel policies emanating from a common source, and (v) the dependency of operations.” The appellate court left open the possibility that other tests may also apply, such as the common law standard for piercing the corporate veil and the integrated enterprise or integrated employer tests.

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