Whats a WARN notice?
The Illinois WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) Act requires employers in the state to give a 60-day notice of a plant closing or a mass layoff. In such instances, the employer must notify employees, unions, the state department of commerce and the Illinois Department of Labor. The state’s WARN act applies to employers with 75 or more full-time workers. A “mass layoff” is defined as when 250 or more employees are laid off, or when 25 or more are let go when they constitute one-third or more of full-time employees at a location. There is also a federal WARN act, which substitutes 25 with 50, and 250 with 500. State WARN notices must contain certain information, such as the name and address of the employer, whether the layoffs are permanent, the expected date of separation and whether there are any bumping rights, according to the state department of commerce.
