The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act Frequently Asked Questions

For general questions (non-media inquiries) about the WARN Act, contact the California WARN Act Coordinator by email.

For Media Inquiries: Contact the EDD Communications Office by phone at 1-916-654-9029 or by email.

For Public Records Requests: Submit your Public Records Request through Ask EDD by selecting the Public Records Request category.

Contact your Local Workforce Development Area (Local Area) Administrators to find contact information for the city and county chief elected official(s) who receive WARN notices.

You can find California labor market data from our Labor Market Information Division (LMID). The LMID collects and publishes employment, unemployment, and other labor market data for all counties of California.

Requests for more labor market services and questions should be addressed to the LMID. You can contact LMI for more information.

The WARN Report is published every Tuesday and Thursday of each week, excluding holidays and weekends.

California retention laws require us to store records for up to five years. All available WARN Reports are published in a Listing of Filed WARN Notices.

Yes. The 60-day period is the minimum for advance notice. Employers can give their employees more than 60 days notice.

Source: 20 CFR 639.2, Page 351

The enforcement of the WARN law and labor law violations should be directed to the California Department of Industrial Relations. We only process the California WARN notices we receive and do not provide legal advice or enforce labor law, including WARN law violations.

A company with a covered establishment that has 75 employees or more is required to file a WARN notice if the company lays off 50 or more employees during any 30-day period.

Source: California Labor Code, Section 1400

Employers must give a WARN notice at least 60 calendar days before any planned plant closure or mass layoff. If all employees are not terminated on the same date, the date of the first individual termination within a 30-day or 90-day period starts the 60-day notice requirement. A worker’s last day of employment is considered the date of that worker’s layoff.

Source: 20 CFR 639.5(a), Page 354

Federal WARN requirements

Contracted employees who have a separate relationship with and are paid by another employer, are not considered affected by the company laying off its employees.

Sources: 20 CFR 639.3(e), Page 352 & Department of Labor WARN Employer’s Guide, Page 5

Part-time or seasonal employees are workers :

• Who are employed for an average of fewer than 20 hours per week.
• Who have been employed for fewer than 6 of the 12 months preceding the date on which notice is required, including workers who work full-time.

Part-time workers do not count when determining whether there has been a plant closure or mass layoff but they are entitled to receive a WARN notice if there is one.

Sources: 20 CFR 639.3(h), Page 353 & Department of Labor WARN Employer’s Guide, Page 4

California WARN requirements

Employees who have worked at least 6 months of the 12 months preceding the date on which a WARN notice is required are counted in determining if there is a mass layoff during any 30-day period of 50 or more employees at a covered establishment.

Source: California Labor Code, Section 1400(d)&(h)

The single site of employment for workers whose primary duties require travel, who are outstationed, or whose primary duties involve work outside any of the employer’s regular employment sites (for example: railroad workers, bus drivers, salespeople) is one of the following:

• The location the employee is assigned work
• The location where the employee reports
• The location assigned to the employee as their home base

Sources: 20 CFR 639.3(i)(6), Page 353 & Department of Labor WARN Employer’s Guide, Page 36.

Yes. The employer is required to provide a WARN notice to any affected employees, the EDD, the Local Area, and the chief elected official of each city and county government in which the termination, relocation, or mass layoff occurs.

Local Areas can help locate information about how to contact the chief elected officials in the communities affected by the planned layoff or closure.

Source: California Labor Code, Section 1401.