§415 Rights and Protections Under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act

Summary

Federal offices must give written notice and wait 60 days before closing or ordering a mass layoff. The notice goes to employee representatives or, if there are none, to the covered employees. If a President loses re-election, the 60-day notice rule does not apply to employees who were appointed during the previous President’s term, or during any earlier term when that person was President or Vice President, when a closure or layoff is ordered after the new President’s term begins. If someone is separated or goes on leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 before the new term starts, the law does not require their job to be restored afterward. Damages for violating the notice rule are the same as those listed in section 5(a) paragraphs (1), (2), and (4) of the WARN Act. The President or the President’s designee must issue rules to carry out these rights, generally matching the Department of Labor’s rules unless a different approach is needed for good cause. Subsections (a) and (b) take effect on the date those rules take effect or on October 1, 1998, whichever comes first.