On November 11, 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation which amends the New York State Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (“NY WARN Act”) by expanding the list of governmental entities that must receive advance notice of a WARN-triggering event. 

As you may be aware, the NY WARN Act requires covered businesses to provide 90 days of advance written notice of plant closures and mass layoffs to all affected workers, any employee representative(s) of the affected workers, the New York State Commissioner of Labor, and the Local Workforce Investment Board.  The recent amendment adds the following entities to that list:

• The chief elected official of the unit or units of local government and the school district or districts in which the mass layoff, relocation or employment loss will occur; and
• Each locality which provides police, firefighting, emergency medical or ambulance services or other emergency services to the site of employment subject to the mass layoff, relocation, or employment loss, as applicable.

The amendment is effective immediately.  The revised regulations have not yet been issued, but will hopefully provide guidance on the contents of the NY WARN Act notices that will be required for the added recipients.  We will continue to follow the developments of this new legislation and will keep you apprised of same.  Should you have any questions regarding the NY WARN Act and whether it applies to your business, please contact ALG.