FORMER COMPUTER ASSOCIATES employees are charging that the Islandia, N.Y.-based software developer tried to disguise recent mass layoffs as individual firings. Why does this matter? Think "bad press," of course, but there are also possible violations of the Workers Adjustment and Retraining Act (WARN). The purpose behind WARN is to ensure that employees receive a 60-day advance notice before a plant closing or a mass layoff so they can have time to find other jobs or get training, says Heather Gatley, a partner in the law firm of Steel, Hector, & Davis, in Miami.

Determine if mass layoffs and WARN apply

WARN applies to companies with 100 or more employees who have worked more than 20 hours a week for the past six months, Gatley says. A mass layoff event occurs when 33 percent of a single site's full-time employees, minimum of 50, are laid off within a 30-day period. But regardless of percentages, if 500 or more employees are laid off from multiple locations within a 90-day period, WARN also applies.

A plant closing, as defined by WARN, occurs when a single site of employment is shut down, either permanently or temporarily, and 50 or more full-time employees lose their jobs. Transferring employees to another location within a reasonable commuting distance is not a WARN closing.

Employers may not stagger layoffs to avoid application of WARN, Gatley says. "There is a fine line. Courts will review what was in [management's] head at the time of the layoffs. If employers knew they would be laying off more than 50 employees at a time and the business reasons for layoffs were in place when the layoffs began, courts will say that WARN applied."

Meet WARN notice requirements

The WARN notice must be given to each affected employee, any affected union, and to the state's dislocated worker unit or head of the local government where the plant or office is located.

Notice to employees who are not represented by a union may be sent by mail or included with a paycheck. The notice must include the date that the layoffs will start, whether the layoffs are permanent or temporary, and who at the company can be contacted for further information. "Also give the employees the demographics of who is being let go, including which job titles are being eliminated," Gatley says.The attorney advises companies to include information on employees' eligibility for severance pay and to explain the economic reasons for the layoffs and the steps the company took to prevent the situation.

Review notice exceptions

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