Washington employers planning a large layoff or facility closure face two overlapping notice laws: the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act and Washington’s own layoff-notification statute (SB 5525), which took effect July 27, 2025. Together they set the Washington WARN notice requirements: 60 days’ advance written notice to affected workers, the state Employment Security Department, and the local chief elected official before a qualifying plant closing or mass layoff. The federal law reaches employers with 100 or more employees; the state law reaches down to 50. Miss the deadline and liability runs up to 60 days of back pay and benefits per worker, plus a civil penalty payable to local government.
Which Employers Are Covered
The federal WARN Act applies to any business enterprise with at least 100 full-time employees, or at least 100 employees (counting part-timers) whose combined weekly hours total 4,000 or more, excluding overtime.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 2101 – Definitions; Exclusions From Definition of Loss of Employment Part-time means fewer than 20 hours per week on average, or fewer than six months of employment in the previous 12. Regular federal and state agencies fall outside the “business enterprise” definition, though public or quasi-public bodies operating commercially as independent entities can be covered.
Washington’s SB 5525 lowers the threshold to employers with 50 or more full-time employees in the state. Many mid-size Washington companies that sit below the federal cutoff still have state notice duties. The state law is also broader in scope: it is not limited to a single site of employment, it requires disclosures about relocations and contracting out, and it prohibits including workers on Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave in a mass layoff. If you employ 50 or more people in Washington, assume you need to run the compliance analysis under both statutes separately.
When a business changes hands, the seller carries WARN responsibility for any layoffs through the closing date, and the buyer picks it up afterward. Workers employed by the seller on the sale date are treated as the buyer’s employees immediately after, and their tenure counts toward the buyer’s thresholds.2U.S. Department of Labor. WARN Advisor – Sale of Business
What Triggers a WARN Notice
Plant Closing
A plant closing occurs when a single employment site, or one or more operating units within a site, shuts down permanently or temporarily and the shutdown causes employment losses for 50 or more full-time workers in any 30-day period.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 2101 – Definitions; Exclusions From Definition of Loss of Employment Part-time employees are not counted toward the 50.
Mass Layoff
A mass layoff is a reduction in force at a single site that is not caused by a plant closing. It triggers WARN when the job losses in any 30-day period hit both marks: at least 33 percent of the full-time workforce and at least 50 full-time employees. If 500 or more full-time workers lose their jobs, notice is required regardless of what percentage they represent.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 2101 – Definitions; Exclusions From Definition of Loss of Employment
Employment Loss
Only certain job changes count. An “employment loss” is a termination (other than for cause, voluntary quit, or retirement), a layoff longer than six months, or a reduction in work hours of more than 50 percent during each month of any six-month period.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 2101 – Definitions; Exclusions From Definition of Loss of Employment The hours-cut rule catches employers who try to avoid WARN by slashing schedules instead of terminating. Workers offered a transfer to another site within reasonable commuting distance do not suffer an employment loss, whether or not they accept.3U.S. Department of Labor. WARN Advisor – Transfer and Relocation
The 90-Day Aggregation Rule
Employers cannot split a large layoff into smaller rounds to stay under the threshold. If two or more groups lose their jobs within any 90-day window and the combined total hits WARN’s numbers, notice is required for every group unless the employer can show the actions arose from distinct and unrelated causes.4U.S. Department of Labor. WARN Advisor – Aggregation This is where employers most often get tripped up. Routine-looking workforce reductions can add up to a violation when viewed over a rolling three-month period.
What the Notice Must Say
WARN is not a single form letter. Required content varies by recipient, but every version must identify the employment site by name and address, state whether the action is permanent or temporary, disclose whether the entire facility is closing, and name a company contact with a phone number.
For non-union employees, each worker’s individual notice must state their expected separation date and whether any bumping rights exist under a seniority system. For unionized workers, the employer notifies the union with the job titles of affected positions and the names of workers in those positions. Notices to the Washington Employment Security Department (ESD) and to the chief elected local official must include the number of affected employees, their job titles, and the schedule of expected separations.
How to Deliver the Notice in Washington
Federal law requires written notice to reach three parties at least 60 days before the first separation: affected employees or their union, the designated state rapid-response agency, and the chief elected official of the local government where the site sits.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 2102 – Notice Required Before Plant Closings and Mass Layoffs In Washington, that state agency is the ESD Rapid Response unit.
ESD accepts the notice by email or mail:6Employment Security Department. WARN Requirements
- Email: ESDGPLayoffAssistance@esd.wa.gov, with “WARN” in the subject line.
- Mail: Employment Security Department, Grants Management Office, Attention: WARN Team, P.O. Box 9046, Olympia, WA 98507-9046.
The chief elected local official is typically the mayor or county executive for the jurisdiction containing the worksite. If the employer pays taxes to more than one local government, send the notice to whichever jurisdiction received the highest tax payments in the prior year.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 2102 – Notice Required Before Plant Closings and Mass Layoffs
For individual non-union workers, each person gets their own written notice. Mailing a letter or handing it to the employee at work both qualify. Inserting the notice in a paycheck envelope works only if it is a one-time, specific notice for that event; pre-printed form notices that appear in pay envelopes routinely do not, and general bulletin-board announcements do not either.7U.S. Department of Labor. WARN Advisor – Delivery Methods
When Shorter Notice Is Allowed
Three exceptions let an employer give less than 60 days, but the employer bears the burden of proof and must still provide as much notice as practicable.8eCFR. 20 CFR 639.9 – When May Notice Be Given Less Than 60 Days in Advance
- Faltering company: the employer was actively pursuing financing or business that would have kept the facility open, and public notice would have killed the deal. This exception applies only to plant closings, not mass layoffs.
- Unforeseeable business circumstances: the layoff or closing was caused by circumstances the employer could not reasonably have predicted 60 days earlier, such as a sudden loss of a major client or an unexpected economic shock.
- Natural disaster: a flood, earthquake, drought, storm, or similar event directly caused the closure.
Courts scrutinize these exceptions. Vague claims that “business was declining” rarely hold up. Employers need contemporaneous documentation showing exactly when they learned of the triggering event and what they did before and after.
What Non-Compliance Costs
An employer that fails to give the required notice owes each affected worker back pay and benefits for every day of the violation, up to a maximum of 60 days.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 2104 – Liability Back pay is calculated at the higher of the worker’s average regular rate over the last three years or their final regular rate, and it includes the cost of benefits such as health coverage that would have continued. An employer that gave 30 days’ notice when 60 was required owes 30 days of back pay and benefits per affected employee.
Liability can be reduced dollar-for-dollar by wages actually paid during the violation period, voluntary unconditional payments to the worker, and payments made to third parties on the employee’s behalf, such as continued health premiums.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 2104 – Liability Even partial violations across a workforce of several hundred add up quickly.
Separately, an employer that fails to notify the local government faces a civil penalty of up to $500 per day. That penalty is waived if the employer pays all affected employees in full within three weeks of ordering the shutdown or layoff.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 2104 – Liability
How Enforcement Works
Federal WARN is enforced entirely through private lawsuits. The U.S. Department of Labor publishes guidance but does not investigate or prosecute.10U.S. Department of Labor. Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act Frequently Asked Questions Workers or unions sue in U.S. District Court either where the violation occurred or where the employer does business. Courts can award reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party, which lowers the barrier for workers to bring claims.11U.S. Department of Labor. WARN Advisor
The Washington ESD plays a parallel role. Only a court can decide whether a violation occurred, but the department can investigate allegations from workers or unions and report its findings. Workers may request an investigation by emailing ESDGPLayoffAssistance@esd.wa.gov with the business name and a description of the suspected violation. Under Washington state law, workers have three years from the alleged violation to sue.6Employment Security Department. WARN Requirements The federal WARN Act sets no statute of limitations of its own, so federal courts borrow the most analogous state limitation period, which varies by jurisdiction.
Strikes and Lockouts
Plant closings or mass layoffs that result directly from a strike or lockout are exempt from WARN, provided the labor action was not engineered to dodge the law. If the closing happens for reasons unrelated to the dispute, notice is still required, and workers outside the striking bargaining unit, including those at unaffected facilities, generally remain entitled to notice unless the employer can invoke the unforeseeable-business-circumstances exception.