Mass Layoffs/WARN Act Cases

Even though companies sometimes face hard choices, that’s no reason to treat large numbers of loyal employees without the dignity their hard work and service demands.

Effective July 1, 2020, strong additional protections for workers at New Jersey employers will go into effect.

Among the important changes to the laws which protect workers from the harsh – and often surprising – effects of sudden, mass layoffs are a reduction of the threshold number of employees a company must terminate (or who would be affected by a facility closure) in order to be subject to the law. That number has been reduced from 500 to 50. This is a significant improvement. This change allows smaller but still appreciable layoffs to be subject to the protections of law. “Termination” pertains to any mass termination or facility closure.

In addition, the law requires that employers engaging in such mass terminations provide one week of severance per full year of service to each affected employee.

Finally, the notice period which must be given before the last date of work in such situations has also been increased from 60 to 90 days. This gives affected employees more time to plan their next moves in order to make sure they can provide for themselves and for their families.

If you or someone you know has been told about, or suspects, a facility closure or a mass layoff or termination, the experienced employment rights litigators Costello, Mains & Silverman, LLC can help. We handle such cases on a contingent basis, meaning that there’s no fee unless we’re successful in recovering. We can represent not only the affected worker, but everyone similarly situated by filing a collective or class action.

Before you do anything else, call us and let’s see if we can help – 866-944-3371.