Unforeseeable Circumstances Justify Layoff Without WARN Notice

By Jude Biggs

 

    The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) requires large employers to provide 60 days’ advance notice of a plant closing or mass layoff.  Sometimes circumstances are such that an employer needs to act quickly to lay off employees and can’t provide the 60 days’ notice required by WARN.  A recent Tenth Circuit decision describes when covered employers may skip the notice requirements under WARN’s “unforeseeable business circumstances” exception.