You've been WARNed, but are you covered?

Undoubtedly, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act) has popped up on your radar during these times of economic uncertainty arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Any number of articles, posts, tweets, and webinars are out there to help you issue-spot as you consider whether the actions you are contemplating constitute a plant closing or a mass layoff. You know the WARN Act requires 60 days' notice of these events— if their definitions are satisfied— but do you know if you are a covered employer under the Act?

Do I need to heed the WARNing?

If you've kept up with all the press, you know an employer for WARN purposes means any business that employs either (1) 100 or more employees, excluding part-time employees, or (2) 100 or more employees, including part-time employees, who in the aggregate work at least 4,000 hours per week, not counting overtime.

This sounds simple, and in some instances, it may be. But more often than not, a number of considerations go into this determination.

Interwoven throughout the WARN Act are a variety of mathematical calculations that must be run, and rerun, and perhaps rerun again as circumstances change. Your employment counsel is going to have a number of questions just related to determining whether you are covered by the Act.