WARN Act

Lori Perdue

Hello, All...
Like many businesses, we are beginning to consider lay-offs & downsizing. After 7 years of amazing growth and expansion, it's so hard to go the other way... Can anyone advise of a good source of info regarding the WARN Act? We may be looking at a 33 1/3 % decrease of our staff, and I want to be sure of the law & our responsibilities.
Thanks...
Lori in Baltimore

Tony Kessler

Lori,
On HRHero.com's home page (you may be able to see the links to the left of this screen), under "Employment Law News & Advice," click on "National News" and then scroll down to "Layoffs and WARN Act requirements." An article there, by the editor of South Carolina Employment Law Letter, provides a good overview of the WARN Act. Here is a direct link: [url]http://www.hrhero.com/national/tragedy-warn.shtml[/url]

If you're a Law Center member, you have access to lots of additional information. After logging in (on the top, right-hand side of the home page), do a search for "Layoffs" and "WARN" for the year 2001. Several good articles will pop up, including one from the November 2001 issue of Washington, D.C., Employment Law Letter titled "Avoiding kneejerk reaction in dealing with the business downturn." It lists useful, last-minute things you can try to do to avoid cutting so deeply into your workforce numbers. Another article, from the Connecticut newsletter, reviews the "notice requirements for downsizing."

Also in the Law Center members-only section, under "Hot Topics," click on "Quitting and firing." It'll take you to a wealth of information on layoffs including two in-depth HR Special Reports -- "Before You Say 'You're Fired'" and "How to Avoid Legal Traps in Workforce Reduction."

Finally, under "Ways We Can Help" (also on the HRHero.com home page), scroll down to "HR Quick List," and you'll find information about a brand-new book that provides a step-by-step approach for facing any number of tough HR challenges. The book contains an entire chapter on "firing" including subsections on exactly what to do when "you're downsizing." Other sections cover the steps to follow when "you're making a high-risk firing decision" or "you're telling an employee he's fired." The material and checklists cover the many employee benefits issues you will be dealing with in a downsizing.

Hope this helps. If you have any trouble navigating the members-only area or you've forgotten your password, e-mail me directly. Good luck in dealing with your situation. Let us know how it goes.

Lori Perdue

Thanks for the speedy reply! It's terrific to have such an amazing resource! Sometimes in HR, you feel like you're the only one on the island --- it's nice to be reminded that WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER!!!
Thanks Again & Take Care...
Lori