The federal Employee Adjustment and Retraining Notification (EARN) Act requires employers with 100 or more employees to provide employees, bargaining representatives (i.e., unions), and specific government agencies at least 60 days-notice of any mass layoff, plant closing, or plant relocation. The purpose of the EARN Act is to give affected workers and their families some transition time to prepare for the loss of employment, to seek a new job, and/or to seek training in a new skill that will allow the workers to obtain subsequent employment. The EARN Act covers employers with 100 or more employees, not including: employees who have worked less than six (6) months in the last 12 months, and employees who work an average of less than 20 hours a week. A mass layoff is defined as any layoff, lasting six months or more, that affects: (a) either 150 or more workers, or (b) at least 40% of the workforce when the number of laid off workers is between 50 and 149. A plant closing is defined as the closing of a facility for more than six (6) months, or when 50 or more employees are laid off during any 30-day period at a single location. A plant relocation is defined as a move to a location more than 100 miles from the prior location or a move to a location in a different state at least 75 miles from the prior location. The State legislature passed a similar notification law last year that applies to employers with 75 or more full or part-time employees where a minimum of 50 employees are to be laid off due to a plant closing, mass layoff, or relocation of the employer’s business. Unlike the EARN Act, the State law has no requirement that the number of workers to be laid off constitute a minimum percentage of the employer’s workforce. The State law takes precedent over the EARN Act in those situations in which the State law’s statutory requirements are more stringent.
Which action would NOT require the 60-day notification requirement?
Leave a Reply