When does New Jersey’s WARN Act require 90 days’ notice and mandatory severance?
New Jersey WARN can apply when a covered employer with 100 or more employees carries out a qualifying mass layoff, transfer of operations, or termination of operations affecting at least 50 employees. When the Act applies, employees generally must receive at least 90 days’ advance notice and mandatory severance equal to one week of pay for each full year of employment.
If an affected employee receives less than the required notice, New Jersey law provides an additional four weeks of pay.
New Jersey’s law is broader and more protective than federal WARN in several important respects, including mandatory severance, part-time employee counting, and the definition of an establishment.
Jurisdiction note: This article focuses on the New Jersey Millville Dallas Airmotive Plant Job Loss Notification Act, commonly called the New Jersey WARN Act. Federal WARN has different thresholds, notice periods, exceptions, and remedies. A particular layoff may implicate one law, both, or neither.
Six questions to ask after a large New Jersey layoff
- Did the employer have at least 100 employees?
- Were 50 or more employees terminated in a qualifying event?
- Were employees spread across multiple New Jersey locations that may count as one establishment?
- Did the employer give at least 90 days’ written notice?
- Was one week of severance paid for each full year of service?
- Were layoffs staggered across 90 days?
What is the New Jersey WARN Act?
New Jersey’s WARN law is formally known as the Millville Dallas Airmotive Plant Job Loss Notification Act. It regulates certain mass layoffs, transfers of operations, and terminations of operations.
The amendments that took effect April 10, 2023 significantly expanded employee protections by increasing notice to 90 days, counting part-time employees, broadening the establishment concept, and requiring severance for covered terminations.
Which employers are covered?
The state law’s notice obligation applies in the case of an employer that employs 100 or more employees.
Unlike older versions and some federal analyses, part-time employees are counted under the amended New Jersey framework.
Employees should not assume the threshold is measured only at a single physical office. The current statutory definition of “establishment” may include a single location or a group of locations, including facilities located in New Jersey.
What counts as a mass layoff?
The statute defines a mass layoff as a reduction in force, not caused by a transfer or termination of operations, that results in termination of employment at an establishment during a 30-day period for 50 or more employees at or reporting to the establishment, subject to statutory exceptions.
New Jersey removed the old one-third-of-the-workforce requirement. Fifty affected employees can therefore be enough even when they represent a smaller percentage of a large workforce.
What if the employer spreads layoffs across several dates?
New Jersey law contains an aggregation rule. Terminations involving two or more groups at a single establishment within a 90-day period can be combined when each group is below the threshold but the aggregate exceeds it, unless the employer proves the causes for the groups are separate and distinct.
How much advance notice is required?
Covered employers generally must provide at least 90 days’ notice before the first termination connected to the qualifying transfer, shutdown, or mass layoff—or any longer notice period required by federal WARN.
The New Jersey notice must be provided to:
- The Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development;
- The chief elected official of the municipality where the establishment is located;
- Each employee whose employment will be terminated; and
- Any collective bargaining units at the establishment.
What must the notice contain?
New Jersey law requires written notice containing information that includes:
- The number of employees whose jobs will end;
- The termination dates;
- The reason for the layoff, transfer, or shutdown;
- Information about available employment at other establishments;
- Employee rights concerning wages, severance, benefits, pensions, and other employment terms;
- The amount of required severance pay; and
- Information about state response-team assistance.
Mandatory severance under New Jersey WARN
When the Act applies, each terminated employee is generally entitled to severance equal to one week of pay for each full year of employment.
The statutory severance rate is the higher of:
- The employee’s final regular rate of compensation; or
- The average regular rate of compensation received during the employee’s final three years of employment.
The statute characterizes the severance as compensation due for back pay and losses associated with the termination relationship and treats it as earned in full upon termination.
What if the company already has a severance plan?
The statute directs the employer to provide the NJ WARN severance or other severance provided under a collective bargaining agreement or for another reason, whichever is greater. The interaction between company severance and statutory severance should be reviewed carefully.
What happens if the employer gives less than 90 days’ notice?
If an affected employee receives less than the required notice, New Jersey law provides an additional four weeks of pay beyond the one-week-per-year severance obligation.
Federal WARN back pay paid because of a federal violation may be credited toward the New Jersey severance obligation under the statute.
Can an employee waive NJ WARN severance?
The statute states that a waiver of the right to New Jersey WARN severance is not effective without approval by the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development or a court of competent jurisdiction.
That makes WARN-related severance different from ordinary discretionary severance offered in exchange for a general release.
Which job losses may not count as terminations?
The statute contains exclusions and definitions that matter. For example, termination of employment does not include every voluntary departure, retirement, discharge for misconduct, or seasonal layoff. Certain offers of equivalent employment within New Jersey and within 50 miles can also affect the analysis.
Specific disaster, national-emergency, war, civil-disorder, sabotage, healthcare decertification, and licensing circumstances can also affect statutory definitions.
New Jersey WARN versus federal WARN
Federal WARN generally uses a 60-day notice framework and does not create New Jersey’s automatic one-week-per-year severance obligation. Federal coverage and mass-layoff thresholds also differ.
Employees should not assume that failing one law’s test means no WARN protection exists. The same event should be checked under both statutes.
What employees should save
- WARN notice;
- Layoff announcement;
- Termination letter;
- Severance agreement;
- Official last day and notice date;
- Years of service;
- Final pay rate and historical pay records;
- Locations and departments affected;
- Names or approximate counts of affected coworkers you lawfully know;
- Job postings or transfer offers;
- Company statements about reasons for the layoff; and
- Any later rounds of layoffs within 90 days.
What else should a laid-off employee review?
WARN is only one part of a layoff review. Also consider:
- Discrimination in layoff selection;
- Retaliation;
- FMLA or medical-leave timing;
- Age-discrimination group disclosures;
- Final wages, commissions, PTO, and bonuses;
- Unemployment benefits;
- COBRA or health coverage; and
- The scope of any severance release.
See Swartz Swidler’s severance agreement guide before signing a release.
How New Jersey WARN differs from federal WARN
The two laws should be checked separately. Key differences commonly include:
- Notice: New Jersey generally requires 90 days; federal WARN generally requires 60 days.
- Severance: New Jersey generally requires one week of severance for each full year of employment when the state Act applies; federal WARN does not impose the same automatic severance formula.
- Part-time employees: New Jersey’s amended law includes part-time employees in counting; federal WARN uses different part-time rules.
- Establishment: New Jersey can aggregate facilities within the state under its broader establishment definition.
- Layoff threshold: New Jersey’s mass-layoff definition uses 50 affected employees without the former one-third workforce requirement.
A layoff can therefore trigger New Jersey WARN even when the federal analysis looks different.
What about remote employees?
Remote-work coverage can be complicated because the New Jersey statute focuses on employees “at or reporting to” an establishment and defines establishment broadly. Employees working remotely for a New Jersey operation should not assume they are excluded, but the facts about reporting structure, work location, and the employer’s facilities should be reviewed carefully.
Are there exceptions?
The statute’s definitions exclude certain events from qualifying mass layoffs or terminations of operations, including specified fires, floods, natural disasters, national emergencies, acts of war, civil disorder, sabotage, certain Medicare/Medicaid decertification events, and license revocations.
Federal WARN has its own exception framework. Do not import federal exceptions directly into the New Jersey statute without checking both laws.
How are NJ WARN claims enforced?
NJDOL provides the notice form and Rapid Response services but expressly notes that it does not have general enforcement or rulemaking authority under the New Jersey WARN Act. Employees asserting statutory rights may need to evaluate a civil action and the applicable limitations period.
That is another reason not to rely solely on calling an agency when notice or severance appears deficient.
Why the notice date matters
Save the first written notice you received and compare it with the first termination date connected to the layoff. Also preserve earlier verbal announcements, company-wide emails, securities filings, news releases, or internal messages that may help establish when the employer planned the event.
The legal question is not simply when employees heard rumors. It is whether the employer provided the written notice the statute requires to the required recipients within the required period.
Severance agreements after a WARN layoff
Employees in a WARN event may receive a separate severance agreement asking for a broad release. Determine which amounts are mandatory under the statute and which are additional consideration for the release.
New Jersey WARN also restricts waiver of the statutory severance right without approval from the Commissioner or a court. That should be considered before an employee treats the entire package as ordinary discretionary severance.
Frequently asked questions
How many employees trigger NJ WARN?
A qualifying mass layoff involves 50 or more employees at or reporting to the establishment during a 30-day period, subject to the statute’s definitions and exceptions.
Does the employer need 100 employees?
The 90-day notice obligation applies in the case of an employer that employs 100 or more employees.
Do part-time employees count?
Yes. The 2023 amendments expanded the framework so part-time employees are included in counting.
Is NJ WARN notice 60 or 90 days?
New Jersey generally requires at least 90 days, or the longer federal period if applicable. Federal WARN generally uses 60 days.
Is severance mandatory?
When New Jersey WARN applies, the statute generally requires one week of severance for each full year of employment.
What if I got only 30 days’ notice?
If the law required 90 days and you received less, the statute provides an additional four weeks of pay.
Can my employer stagger layoffs to avoid 50 employees?
Not necessarily. New Jersey has a 90-day aggregation rule for groups of terminations unless the employer proves separate and distinct causes.
Can locations across New Jersey be combined?
Potentially. The statutory definition of establishment may include a single location or a group of locations, including facilities located in New Jersey.
Can I waive mandatory WARN severance in my severance agreement?
The statute states that a waiver is ineffective without approval from the Commissioner or a court.
Does WARN prevent discriminatory layoffs?
WARN and discrimination law are separate. A layoff can comply with WARN notice rules and still be unlawful if employees were selected for discriminatory or retaliatory reasons.
Related Swartz resources
- Employee rights during layoffs and reductions in force
- What employees should know about severance packages
- Wrongful termination attorneys
- What to do when an employer contests unemployment benefits
Talk with Swartz Swidler about a New Jersey mass layoff
If you were part of a large layoff, Swartz Swidler can review the employer’s size, number of affected employees, locations, notice timing, mandatory severance, federal WARN rights, and the release contained in any severance agreement.
