WARN Act Issues To Navigate For The Restaurant Industry

Restaurants' plans for temporary or permanent closures or layoffs could trigger the notice requirements of the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act) or the many state mini-WARN Acts enacted across the country. Therefore, restaurants should be mindful of the various ways that the WARN Act can be triggered and plan accordingly.

The federal WARN Act (29 U.S.C. § 2101 et seq.) requires covered employers to provide written notice at least 60 days before implementing a "plant closing" or a "mass layoff."

Although it is more generally understood that large-scale layoffs or the closure of large facilities that result in the termination of hundreds of employees might implicate the WARN Act, restaurants can unknowingly trigger the WARN Act's notice requirements under less obvious circumstances that could require choosing between suddenly changing plans or risking the potential of facing a class action lawsuit or Department of