The WARN Act in Georgia
This is your warning.
We’ve written about the federal WARN Act before (here, here, and here), but we want to take a deeper dive into how WARN applies to Georgia employers. Though several states have implemented stricter regulations (referred to as mini-WARNs), Georgia adheres to the provisions created by the federal WARN Act.
First, as a refresher, the WARN Act is a U.S. labor law that requires employers to give a 60-day notice in certain situations of employee layoffs and plant closings. It was created to provide employees and local communities with advance notice of the financial impact.
Failure to comply with WARN can result in costly penalties — and even class-action lawsuits — for employers in Georgia.
WARN Act Definitions for Georgia Employers
These definitions will help Georgia employers better understand the WARN Act.
“Employer” means any business enterprise that employs—
(A) 100 or more employees, excluding part-time employees; or
(B) 100 or more employees who in the aggregate work at least 4,000 hours per week (exclusive of hours of overtime);
"Plant closing" means the permanent or temporary shutdown of a single site of employment, or one or more facilities or operating units within a single site of employment, if the shutdown results in an employment loss at the single site of employment during any 30-day period for 50 or more employees excluding any part-time employees;
“Mass layoff” means a reduction in force which (1) is not the result of a plant closing, AND (2) results in an employment loss at the single site of employment during any 30-day period for:
(i) At least 33 percent of the active employees, excluding part-time employees, and
(ii) At least 50 employees, excluding part-time employees.
Source: The full text of the WARN Act
WARN Act Triggers for Georgia Employers
These are the circumstances in which WARN is triggered for Georgia employers.
Closes a facility or discontinues an operating unit permanently or temporarily, affecting at least 50 employees, not counting part-time workers, at a single site of employment. A plant closing also occurs when an employer closes an operating unit that has fewer than 50 workers but that closing also involves the layoff of enough other workers to make the total number of layoffs 50 or more;
Lays off 500 or more workers (not counting part-time workers) at a single site of employment during a 30-day period; or lays off 50-499 workers (not counting part-time workers), and these layoffs constitute 33% of the employer’s total active workforce (not counting part-time workers) at the single site of employment;
Announces a temporary layoff of less than 6 months that meets either of the two criteria above and then decides to extend the layoff for more than 6 months. If the extension occurs for reasons that were not reasonably foreseeable at the time the layoff was originally announced, notice need only be given when the need for the extension becomes known. Any other case is treated as if notice was required for the original layoff; or
Reduces the hours of work for 50 or more workers by 50% or more for each month in any 6-month period. Thus, a plant closing or mass layoff need not be permanent to trigger WARN.
Source: DOL’s Employer’s Guide to Advance Notice of Closings and Layoffs
What Georgia Employers Must Include in a WARN Notice
Georgia employers are required to notify individual employees (or, in some cases, their representatives) at least 60 calendar days prior to a planned plant closing or mass layoff.
When providing notice under WARN, Georgia employers must write the notice in a way that is easy to understand. It should include:
A statement about whether the change is expected to be permanent or temporary and, if the entire plant is to be closed, a statement to that effect;
The expected date that the plant closing or mass layoff will begin, and the expected date when the individual employee will be separated;
An indication whether or not bumping rights exist; and
The name and telephone number of a company official to contact for further information.
Resources provided by the State of Georgia
As of January 1, 2023, Rapid Response services provided by the State of Georgia will be administered by the Technical College System of Georgia’s Office of Workforce Development.
Want to improve compliance with state and federal regulations?
Click here to learn how Onwards HR helps companies adhere to the federal WARN Act.
