Maryland employers are responsible for providing notification to employees of plant closings and mass layoffs under federal and state laws. The requirements of each are detailed in this chapter.
Any employer who faces the prospect of layoffs should contemplate in advance and reduce to writing the manner in which the layoff will be handled. The real risk in selecting employees for layoff or recall lies in potential claims of unlawful discrimination.
The federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) requires certain employers (generally, those with 100 or more employees) to notify their employees in advance of a plant closing or mass layoff. A large employer facing the possibility of a significant layoff or plant closing should contact an employment attorney to ensure compliance with WARN. The penalty for failure to comply with WARN is substantial, including back pay for each affected employee for each day of violation, up to 60 days. The sample policy is for employers not covered by WARN. Maryland also has a mandatory WARN law that applies to smaller employers (those with 50 or more employees), although it is not currently being enforced, pending the issuance of regulations.
Also, employers...
Please call us at (312) 960-9400 if this is an error or if you have any questions.