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Committee hears bill to create state 'WARN' notice and penalties for mass layoffs
Summary
House Bill 1313 would establish a Washington WARN Act requiring 60 days' notice for mass layoffs, relocations or terminations at covered facilities; labor groups supported the bill and industry groups sought clarifications and exemptions for construction and multi-employer sites.
House Bill 1313 would establish a Washington WARN Act requiring covered employers to provide 60 days’ notice to affected employees and local authorities before a mass layoff, relocation or termination, a staff briefing said at the Jan. 28 Labor & Workplace Standards Committee hearing.
Under staff description, the bill defines a mass layoff as a layoff of 50 or more employees at a single facility within a 30-day period and contains several exceptions: if the employer was actively seeking capital or business and believed notice would jeopardize that effort; if a physical calamity or active war caused the event; or if the layoff followed the completion of a construction project when employees were made aware that employment was limited to the project. The Employment Security Department would develop required notices and a survey to capture demographics of impacted workers.
Sponsor remarks emphasized the human and community cost of large-scale layoffs. Representative Scott Day told the committee mass layoffs “put a strain on household budgets and on state social services” and said the bill would give workers and public agencies time to prepare.
Labor organizations including the Washington State Labor Council and the union SPIA testified in support. John Trainer of the Washington State Labor Council said the bill would “provide more accountability to workers during large layoffs” and help deliver rapid-response services to affected families. Brandon Anderson, representing more than 16,000 aerospace engineers and technical workers, said WARN notices the union received in recent months gave members crucial time to plan and called for additional notice requirements — such as whether work will be relocated or outsourced — that could qualify displaced workers for federal trade-adjustment benefits.
Industry witnesses raised technical concerns. The Employment Security Department asked whether civil penalties in the bill were intended as administrative or civil penalties and flagged an accounting issue if fines were deposited to the unemployment insurance trust fund. The Mechanical Contractors Association of Western Washington requested an exemption or clarifying language for multi-employer construction projects and dispatch systems because project work commonly ramps up and down.
The bill also contains enforcement and remedy provisions. Staff said employers who violate the notice requirement could be liable to each affected employee for back pay and benefits up to 60 days, and civil penalties of up to $500 per day could apply unless the employer satisfies liability to employees within three weeks.
No committee vote was taken during the Jan. 28 hearing.
