“To amend the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act to support workers who are subject to an employment loss, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section revises the definitions section of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act), which requires 60 days' advance notice of plant closings and mass layoffs affecting certain employees, as follows: (1) redefines "employer" to include any business enterprise with 50 or more employees (including part-time) or $2 million annual payroll (from 100 full-time employees, excluding part-time), with joint liability possible for parents, affiliates, or contracting companies based on control or integration factors such as common ownership or de facto control over the layoff; (2) defines "mass layoff" as employment losses for 10 or more employees at a single site (including certain remote workers associated with the site) or 250 or more employees irrespective of site during any 90-day period (from 33% of active employees if 50-499 or 500 or more at a site); (3) defines "site closing" as a shutdown resulting in employment losses for 5 or more employees at a single site (calculated to include certain remote workers) during any 30-day period (from 50 or more employees or 33% of active employees); (4) defines "employment loss" to exclude certain temporary layoffs or site closings and reductions in hours of more than 50% over 90 days if part of an operational short-time compensation program; and (5) adds definitions for "representative" (i.e., exclusive bargaining representative under specified labor laws), "short-time compensation program," and "unit of local government." (Thus, the changes substantially expand WARN Act coverage to smaller employers, more layoffs, part-time and remote workers, and related entities.)
This section revises exemptions from notice requirements under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act by replacing the existing exemptions—including for closings of temporary facilities and for strikes or lockouts—with a single exemption for a site closing or mass layoff resulting from completion of a particular project or undertaking if (1) the completion point was ascertainable and, at the time of hiring, described to and acknowledged in writing by the affected employee as limiting employment duration; and (2) the approach of the completion point was reasonably obvious to affected employees at least 60 days prior without additional notice. (Thus, employers may no longer claim exemptions for temporary facilities or strikes or lockouts.)
This section revises the civil remedies and enforcement provisions of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act (which requires covered employers to provide at least 60 calendar days' advance notice of a site closing affecting 50 or more employees or a mass layoff affecting at least one-third or 500 employees at a site employing at least 100 workers) as follows: (1) in employer liability to aggrieved employees, adds liquidated damages equal to 30 days of back pay (calculated at the higher of the employee's average regular rate over the last three years of employment or final regular rate); increases the maximum calculation period for back pay and benefits to 90 days plus one day for each day of parental, family, or medical leave during the violation period or curtailed by the employment loss (from 60 days), in no event exceeding one-half the employee's total days of employment; specifies back pay at the daily rate for each calendar day of violation (from each day); and clarifies that the violation period for wage reductions begins on the date of employment loss; (2) expands civil penalties of up to $500 per day for notice failures involving local governments to also cover the Secretary of Labor and states; (3) limits court discretion to reduce good faith penalties to only the civil penalty under the expanded provision above; (4) expands enforcement standing to employee representatives, states, rapid response designees under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, and local governments; provides that predispute arbitration agreements or joint-action waivers do not affect such rights; and limits attorney fee awards to prevailing plaintiffs (from prevailing parties); (5) establishes a four-year statute of limitations after the last event constituting the violation (replacing the prior three-year limit after employment loss); (6) exempts employers from liquidated damages if the closing or layoff results from unforeseeable business circumstances (other than a financier's decision) as of 30 days prior; and (7) requires states and designees to transmit WARN notices to the Secretary of Labor, who must create and maintain a public online database of notice details (e.g., employer name, affected local government and employee count, NAICS sector code, closing/layoff type) with search and download functions.
This section requires each employer to post and keep posted, in conspicuous places on its premises where employee notices are customarily posted, a notice prepared or approved by the Secretary of Labor setting forth excerpts from, or summaries of, pertinent provisions of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act and information pertinent to filing complaints under the Act. The section authorizes the Secretary to impose a civil penalty of up to $500 on any person for each willful violation.
This section amends the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act (29 U.S.C. 2101 et seq.)—which requires most employers with 100 or more employees to provide 60 days' advance notice of plant closings and mass layoffs—by adding two new sections at the end. (1) It establishes that substantive rights and remedies under the WARN Act, including the right to file or participate in a class action under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, may not be waived, deferred, or lost except pursuant to an agreement or settlement negotiated by a private attorney or designated representative of affected employees under the National Labor Relations Act or Railway Labor Act. (Thus, employers generally may not obtain waivers of WARN claims through individual severance agreements.) (2) It directs the Secretary of Labor to maintain an online guide describing benefits and services available to affected employees—including unemployment compensation, trade adjustment assistance, COBRA continuation coverage, and early access to training and counseling under title I of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3111 et seq.)—with eligibility requirements and application information; and requires the Secretary, upon receiving an employer notice under WARN section 3(a)(2), to transmit the guide to that employer.
This section makes conforming amendments to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act) by (1) revising its table of contents to replace the title of section 3 with "Notice required before site closings and mass layoffs," replace the title of section 11 with "Posting of notices," and add titles for new sections 12 ("Rights and remedies not subject to waiver") and 13 ("Information regarding benefits and services available to workers"); and (2) replacing "plant" with "site" in section 7. The section also amends the USEC Privatization Act to revise a cross-reference from WARN Act definitions in 29 U.S.C. 2101(a)(2) and (3) to those paragraphs of section 2(a) of the WARN Act as in effect the day before enactment of this Act.