§2104 Administration and Enforcement of Requirements

Summary

Employers who shut a plant or lay off a lot of workers without following the notice rules must pay each harmed worker back pay and lost benefits for the time they broke the rule. Back pay is paid for each day of the violation, up to 60 days and never more than one-half of the days the worker was employed. The daily pay rate must be at least the higher of the worker’s average regular rate over the last 3 years or the worker’s final regular rate. Employers must also cover employee benefit plan costs that the worker would have had, including medical costs. The amount the employer owes is lowered by any wages already paid, any voluntary payments, and payments the employer made for benefits (like insurance premiums). For defined benefit pensions, the employer can also give service credit for the missed period. If the employer broke the rule for a local government unit, a penalty of up to $500 a day can apply unless the employer pays what is owed to each harmed worker within 3 weeks after the shutdown or layoff. Workers, their representatives, or an aggrieved local government can sue in federal court where the violation happened or where the employer does business. The court can cut the employer’s bill if the employer shows it acted in good faith and had reasonable grounds to think it was not breaking the rule. The court may also award a reasonable lawyer’s fee to the winning side. The law calls an "aggrieved employee" someone who worked for the employer and did not get the required notice in time. The remedies here are the only ones available under this law, and a federal court cannot order a plant to stay open or stop a mass layoff.