Washington Enacts Mini-WARN Act Requiring Notice Before Certain Layoffs and Closures

Washington will soon join the growing list of states that require employers to give 60 days’ advance notice to employees, unions, and the state for certain mass layoffs and business closures. On May 13, 2025, Governor Bob Ferguson signed the Securing Timely Notification and Benefits for Laid-Off Employees Act (WA WARN). The law, which will take effect on July 27, 2025, differs from the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (Fed WARN) in several key respects. 

Covered Employers and Part-Time Employees

The WA WARN applies to companies that employ 50 or more employees in the state, excluding part-time employees. That means WA WARN will cover smaller employers than the Fed WARN Act, which applies to companies that employ 100 or more employees, excluding part-time employees. 

WA WARN’s definition of “part-time” tracks the Fed WARN definition and includes employees who work an average of fewer than 20 hours per week, and employees who have been employed for fewer than six of the 12 months preceding the date on which notice is required. However, unlike Fed WARN, WA WARN mandates that the definition of part-time in an applicable collective bargaining agreement (CBA) must be used if part-time is defined differently in the CBA. Unlike Fed WARN’s broad default definition of “part-time” employees, CBAs rarely define short-term employees as “part-time.” But “part-time” employees under a CBA may well include those who work more than 20 hours per week – for example, those who regularly work 30 hours a week.

WARN Events

The events that trigger a 60-day notice obligation under WA WARN are different from, and in many cases more expansive than, Fed WARN.

• Business Closing. Under the WA WARN Act, this is the permanent or temporary shutdown of a single site of employment of [sic] one or more facilities or operating units that will result in employment losses for 50 or more employees, excluding part-time employees. Unlike Fed WARN, a Business Closing under WA WARN is not expressly limited to employment losses occurring within a 30-day or 90-day period. As a result, unlike under Fed WARN, employers may not have the ability to avoid triggering a Business Closing by staging layoffs over time. On the other hand, the particular language used in the Washington statute may allow employers to close individual facilities or operating units within a single site of employment without triggering the Washington law, even if 50 or more employees are affected, as long as the entire single site of employment is not closed and, in addition, the layoffs are spread out over time in a way that avoids triggering a mass layoff in any 30-day period.
• Mass Layoff. Under the WA WARN Act, this is a reduction in force that is not the result of a business closing and results in employment losses for 50 or more employees, excluding part-time employees, during any 30-day period. Unlike Fed WARN, mass layoffs under WA WARN are not expressly limited to a single site of employment. Rather, it is possible that employers must consider statewide employment actions when assessing whether a mass layoff will occur. That means, for example, if an employer laid off a total of 50 employees at various sites across the state within a 30-day period, WA WARN’s notice requirement might be triggered. Also unlike under Fed WARN, a WA WARN mass layoff is not limited to layoffs that affect a minimum percentage of the workforce. Thus, for example, a 50-person layoff could trigger notice obligations in Washington even if the layoff affects less than 33 percent of the countable workforce at any site of employment. The Washington mass layoff trigger, however, looks at only each 30-day period, unlike Fed WARN, which has a 90-day aggregation period.
• Short Term Layoffs. It is unclear how short-term layoffs that exceed three months will be treated under the Washington law. Like under Fed WARN, the WA WARN defines an employment loss as including a layoff exceeding six months. Under Fed WARN, that language has been interpreted as allowing layoffs of up to six months without counting towards Fed WARN notice obligations. But a separate provision of the Washington law might require that a layoff can exceed three months only if it is extended due to unforeseeable business circumstances.
• Sales of Businesses. It is unclear how sales of businesses that are structured as asset sales will be treated under the Washington law. The Washington statute incorporates some, but not all, of the terms of the Fed WARN Act sale-of-business exception.

Notice Recipients and Content

Unlike Fed WARN, notice under WA WARN does not have to be given to the chief elected official of the unit of local government in which the layoff or closing will occur. Notice must be given to unrepresented employees, unions, and the state Employment Security Department. 

But while there is one fewer recipient under WA WARN, notices will be longer. All notices (including employee notices) must contain, among other information, the names of the employees holding affected jobs, and a statement about whether the layoff or closing results from, or will result in, the relocation of, or contracting out, of the employer’s operation or the affected employees’ positions. Notice to the state must also include the addresses of the affected employees. 

Exceptions

Under Fed WARN, if an exception applies, notice may be given less than 60 days in advance, but it still must be given as soon as practicable under the circumstances. WA WARN is worded differently. Under WA WARN, an employer is not required to comply with the notice requirements of the statute if an exception applies (faltering company, unforeseeable business circumstances, or natural disaster). Notice under WA WARN is required if the exception applies for only part of the 60-day notice window. Notice in these circumstances is required when the exception no longer applies.¹ Employers that seek to rely on an exception will need to substantiate the exception through documentation submitted to the state, the requirements for which will be included in implementing regulations issued by the state. It is unclear whether that process is relevant only to claims brought by the state agency, or also applies to claims brought by employees or unions.

The faltering company exception under WA WARN also differs from Fed WARN in another respect. Although it is defined in substantially similar terms, the faltering company exception under WA WARN applies to both mass layoffs and business closings, whereas the same exception under Fed WARN applies only to plant closings. 

Employees on Leave

One of WA WARN’s biggest departures from Fed WARN relates to employees on paid family leave. Under WA WARN, unless an exception applies (faltering company, unforeseeable business circumstances, or natural disaster), an employer may not include any employee on state paid family or medical leave in a mass layoff. This limitation does not apply to business closings. It also does not apply to employees on any leave other than Washington’s Paid Family and Medical Leave (Wash. Rev. Code. §§ 50A.05.005, et. seq.).

This provision is significant. The employment laws generally do not prohibit laying off employees on leave, and no other WARN Act (federal or state) includes such a prohibition.

Damages and Private Right of Action

Like Fed WARN, aggrieved employees who were entitled to notice under WA WARN, but did not receive timely notice, may sue for 60 days of back pay and the value and cost of any lost benefits. There is also a $500 per day civil penalty owed to the state for each day of violation up to 60 days. However, an employer is not subject to the civil penalty if it pays affected employees all of the amounts to which they are entitled within three weeks from the date the employer orders the mass layoff or business closing. Further, damages paid under Fed WARN will reduce damages owed under WA WARN.

WA WARN imposes a three-year statute of limitations. 

Recommendations

As with every WARN Act (federal and state), WA WARN involves complicated questions about whether a notice obligation exists, who must be counted, and when notice must be given. Suggested action items for employers are as follows:

• Plan reductions-in-force sufficiently in advance to comply with any WA WARN notice obligations;
• Review and update any policies or other documents regarding reductions in force, layoffs, or protocol for closures to account for the WA WARN requirements;
• Provide training to personnel involved in reductions in force, layoffs, and closures to make them aware of the WA WARN requirements; and
• Consult experienced counsel before implementing layoffs or closures in Washington.