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 Media Services Office by phone at 1-916-654-9029 or email at MediaInquiries@ca.edd.gov.

For Public Records Requests: Submit your Public Records Request through the GovQA portal by selecting the WARN Notice Request

Contact your Local Workforce Development Area (Local Area) Administrator 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 the EDD Labor Market Information Division (LMID).

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

The WARN Report is published every Tuesday and Thursday, except on holidays.

California retention laws require us to keep records for five years. All available WARN Reports are listed in the Listing of Filed WARN Notices.

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

Source: 20 CFR 639.2, Page 351

If you have questions about enforcement of the WARN law or other labor law violations, contact the California Department of Industrial Relations.

A company with 75 or more employees must file a WARN notice if it lays off 50 or more employees in a 30-day period.

Source: California Labor Code, Section 1400.5

Employers must give a WARN notice at least 60 calendar days before a planned mass layoff, plant closure, or certain relocations. If employees are not all dismissed on the same day, the 60-day notice starts from the first termination within a 30-day or 90-day period.

Source: 20 CFR 639.5(a), Page 354

Federal WARN requirements

Contracted employees who work for another employer and are paid by that employer are not counted as affected if the company lays 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 work fewer than 20 hours per week on average.
• Who have worked less than 6 of the 12 months before the notice is required, including full-time workers.

Part-time workers are not counted when deciding if there has been a plant closure or mass layoff, but they must still get a WARN notice if one is given.

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 in the 12 months before the WARN Notice is required are counted when deciding if there’s a mass layoff, plant closure, or relocation at a covered company.

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

The single site of employment for workers whose main job requires travel, who are based in different locations, or whose main job is outside any regular employer work sites (like railroad workers, bus drivers, or 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 must give a WARN Notice to all affected employees, the EDD, the Local Area, and the chief elected official of each city and county where the termination, relocation, or mass layoff occurs.

Contact your Local Area to get the contact information for the chief elected officials you need to notify.

Source: California Labor Code, Section 1401.