The Department of Labor today issues a notice that excludes DHS contractors from issuing WARN Act notices to their employees in the event of sequestration January 2, 2013 (Read the acquisition alert here). The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act requires employers to issue notices 60 days in advance of covered plant closings and covered mass layoffs. This notice must be provided to either affected workers or their representatives (e.g., a labor union); to the State dislocated worker unit; and to the appropriate unit of local government.

Employer Coverage

In general, employers are covered by WARN if they have 100 or more employees, not counting employees who have worked less than 6 months in the last 12 months and not counting employees who work an average of less than 20 hours a week. Private, for-profit employers and private, nonprofit employers are covered, as are public and quasi-public entities which operate in a commercial context and are separately organized from the regular government. Regular Federal, State, and local government entities which provide public services are not covered. Read the entire guidance on the WARN Act here.