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Plant closings and mass layoffs — Georgia

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) ensures that workers displaced by mass layoffs or plant closings receive adequate time to prepare for the transition between losing their jobs and finding new ones. To that end, WARN essentially requires employers to provide at least 60 days’ written notice to employees who will lose their jobs due to a covered “plant closing” or “mass layoff,” as WARN defines those terms.

A company’s failure to comply with WARN can be a critical and costly mistake.  An employer who fails to meet WARN’s advance notice requirement is liable for full back pay and benefits to each displaced worker for each day that notice was not given during the 60-day period. In cases where large plant closings displace many employees, these liabilities can add up quickly and substantially affect a company’s bottom line. In addition, a violating employer may be liable for civil penalties, attorneys’ fees and costs. 

Although some states have enacted similar “WARN” statutes (commonly referred to as “mini-WARN Acts”) that impose additional or different notice requirements and remedies under state law, Georgia has not enacted a state-law counterpart to WARN.

However, Georgia employers must provide a Mass...


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