Further, under N.J.S.A. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. A mass layoff is a reduction in force resulting in job loss at a single site of employment for 500 or more full-time employees, or for 50 to 499 full-time employees, if the number of employees laid off makes up at least 33% of the employer’s active workforce. The WARN Act is a paper lion because it limits employees' damages to their loss of wages and benefits over the last 60 days of their employment. L. 100–379, § 2, Aug. 4, 1988, 102 Stat. (Under WARN, the penalty for failing to provide the required notice is back pay for each day of the violation. While a company can sell an entire division, regardless of size, to another company without incurring WARN Act obligations (so long as the acquiring company keeps most of the acquired employees), a company cannot transfer (or “rebadge”) 50 or more employees to a service provider without becoming subject to WARN Act’s 60-day notice provision. Neither the statutory language nor the committee statements provide sufficient context or guidance for employers faced with the prospect of a mass layoff to determine the extent of their notice and severance payment obligations. (B) the employer offers to transfer the employee to any other site of employment regardless of distance with no more than a 6-month break in employment, and the employee accepts within 30 days of the offer or of the closing or layoff, whichever is later. In general, this statute is designed to require employers to provide employees with 6o days notice of layoffs due to plant closings, sale of business or financial hardship. This expanded definition suggests that an individual with no ownership interest, but who was directed to reduce headcount, reorganize operations, or develop and implement cost-saving measures that result in a covered employment action, may be held liable. Previously, and consistent with its federal counterpart, the Act limited notice obligations to covered employment actions that affected full-time employees. For example, furloughs expected to last less than six months do not trigger the WARN Act. Businesses already operating within the state may want to explore accelerating or designing restructuring plans to avoid the burdensome financial consequences associated with these provisions before the Act’s effective date. The WARN Act requires employers to give employees 60-day notice when: Closing a facility will lead to loss of employment for at least 50 employees. This has made New Jersey one of the first, if not the first, state to require 90 days’ advance notice and force employers to pay severance to employees who experience an employment loss by a mass layoff, transfer of operations, or termination of operations. Eliminating the distinction expands the scope of the Act’s coverage and when an event triggers an employer’s notice and severance obligations. Please contact a Jackson Lewis attorney if you have any questions. On January 21, 2020, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed into law an amendment to the Millville-Dallas Airmotive Plant Job Loss Notification Act to mandate 90 days’ advance notice of a defined mass layoff, transfer of operations, or termination of operations (for companies with at least 100 employees) that affects at least 50 employees, among other provisions. The Act takes effect on July 19, 2020. On December 12, 2005, in MacIsaac v. Waste Mgmt. Thus, an employer who fails to give notice under the Act is essentially immune from any liability as long as they pay all compensation due their employees through their last day of work.“ This interpretation likely would result in employers eliminating any severance policy that provided severance beyond New Jersey law. 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