Governor Phil Murphy has signed Assembly Bill 4768 into law, which significantly amends New Jersey’s WARN Act (NJ WARN). Assembly Bill 4768 is set to take effect on April 10, 2023.
Background
Covered employers in New Jersey must comply with NJ WARN and the Federal WARN Act when layoffs occur. Amendments to NJ WARN were set to take effect on July 20, 2020, but continued to be postponed by Executive Order 103 throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Details
Assembly Bill 4768 will make the following changes to the NJ WARN Act, despite Executive Order 103 and the State of Emergency still being in effect.
|
Requirements
|
Current NJ WARN Provisions
|
NJ WARN Amendments(effective 4/10/2023)
|
|
Employer size
|
100 or more full-time employees (FTEs)
|
100 or more FTEs or part-timeemployees, regardless of their hours of work or length of service
|
|
Establishment definition
|
A single location or a group of contiguous locations, including groups of facilities that form an office or industrial park or separate facilities just across the street from each other
|
A single location or a group of locations, including any facilities located in New Jersey.
Note:The new law appears to require employers to aggregate all of their New Jersey locations to determine if the 50-employee threshold is met.
|
|
Qualifying layoffs
|
A layoff that impacts 500 or more FTEs, or 50 employees representing one-third or more of impacted FTEs
|
A layoff of 50 or more FTEs or part-time employees within a 30-day period (or a 90-day period under certain circumstances), eliminating the 500-employee and “one-third” requirements.
|
|
Notice
|
60 days
|
90 Days
|
|
Severance
|
When the full 60-day notice period is not met
|
One week’s salary for each full year of employment (regardless of whether required notice is provided). This is considered back pay and must be paid at the same time as the final paycheck.
Note:An employer must pay a penalty of an extra four weeks of severance if they are found to not have complied with the notice period, unless in the case of a natural disaster.
|
Next Steps
- Follow the amended provisions of Assembly Bill 4768 by April 10, 2023.
- Determine full-time and part-time employee counts and assess whether the changes to NJ WARN apply; and
- Plan and budget for mass layoffs in advance, keeping in mind the mandatory four weeks of additional severance payments if the 90-day notice period is not provided.
Note: Be on the lookout for updates in a pending lawsuit, which may impact whether employers will be required to pay severance under Assembly Bill 4768.