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Panel hears state WARN‑style bill to require 60‑day notice for mass layoffs and closings
Summary
Engrossed SB 5525 would create a Washington WARN act requiring covered employers to provide 60 days’ notice of business closures or mass layoffs, expand coverage to employers with 50+ employees, and add state penalties and specific notice content; witnesses included laid‑off employees and contractors.
Senate Bill 5525, titled the Securing Timely Notification and Benefits for Laid Off Employees Act in staff briefing, would create a Washington‑level WARN statute that requires covered employers to provide 60 days’ notice before a business closing or mass layoff and prescribes notice content, exemptions, and penalties.
Staff outlined the bill’s scope: a covered employer is a person with 50 or more full‑time employees in Washington (state and political subdivisions are excluded). A business closing or a mass layoff that causes employment loss for 50 or more full‑time employees in a 30‑day period would trigger the notice requirement. The bill largely parallels the Federal WARN Act but differs in several elements, including employer threshold and…
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