Washington state enacts new notice requirements for business closures, mass layoffs

Washington state recently passed a new law requiring certain notices for business site closings and mass reductions in force. On May 13, 2025, Governor Bob Ferguson signed Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5525 (E2SSB 5525) into law. The new law, which takes effect July 27, 2025, requires covered employers to provide 60 days’ advance written notice of mass layoffs or business closures to the state’s Employment Security Department (ESD) and affected employees or, if the employee is represented by a union, to the employee’s bargaining representative.

In passing E2SSB 5525, the “Securing Timely Notification and Benefits for Laid-Off Employees Act,” Washington has become the latest state to enact a mini-Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) law. Employers covered by the federal WARN Act must already comply with some of the provisions in the new law.

Covered employers

E2SSB 5525 covers employers with 50 or more employees, excluding part-time employees. By contrast, the federal WARN Act applies only to employers with 100 or more employees, excluding part-time employees.

Both E2SSB 5525 and the federal WARN Act define a part-time employee as an employee who is employed for an average of fewer than 20 hours per week or who has been employed for fewer than six of the 12 months preceding the date on which notice is required. However, Washington’s law also provides that any definition of part-time employee provided in a collective bargaining agreement supersedes the definition in the bill.