Yesterday we discussed alternatives to laying off staff. If you have exhausted alternatives and are forced to downsize, be sure to educate yourself on the myriad of laws that can affect your termination decisions. One of the most important federal laws governing layoffs is WARN – the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.

WARN applies to organizations with 100 or more full-time employees or 100 or more employees who regularly combined total of 4,000 hours (non) overtime in a week. WARN requires employers that fall under the act, to give employees, state and local officials a 60 days notice to mass layoffs or plant closures that are expected to last for at least six months. According to the law, mass layoffs are defined as a 33 percent reduction in the workforce or the layoff of 500 employees within a 30-day period.

WARN further requires employers of unionized employees to give the union 60 days’ notice when any of their members will be laid off. Nonunion employees must receive individual notice, which may be included with the employee’s paychecks or mailed to them. In addition, some states have laws similar to the WARN, those laws may have additional requirements.

Be sure to familiarize yourself with this important law. If you are concerned with your ability to remain compliant, consider the support of a Human Resources Consulting firm to help guide you and assist in maintaining your compliance.