By Philip Walzer The Virginian-Pilot June 10, 2012 Unlike many federal creations, this one sports an acronym that'ssimple to say and crisply conveys its objective. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, known as theWARN law, gives workers and state agencies 60 days' notice before aplant closing or a large-scale layoff. A Virginia website - warn.vccs.edu - has posted more than 35 such notices this year from employersincluding Northrop Grumman Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp. But the law too often doesn't provide fair notice and bewildersboth businesses and workers, lawyers, unions and a federal watchdogagency say.
"It's very tricky what is a mass layoff and aplant closing" under the law, said Arlene Klinedinst, aNorfolk attorney who represents businesses. "There are exceptions you can drive a truck through,"said David Santa-croce, a law professor at the University ofMichigan. Santacroce said he thinks many businesses don't comply. In 2003,the U.S. Government Accountability Office estimated that a majoritydon't.
"Employers provided notice for approximately one-third oflayoffs and closures that appear subject to WARNrequirements," the agency said in a report. The study also found that "certain definitions andcalculations of WARN are difficult for employers and employees toapply." The prospects for tighter enforcement are dim: The law doesn'trequire any agency to monitor compliance or take action againstcompanies that commit violations. It's up to workers to sue if theyfeel they haven't been given adequate warning. Santacroce explained the thinking behind the 1989 law: "One of the most difficult things, after death and divorce, isthe loss of a job. The law was designed to give notice not just toworkers, but to the state agency that's responsible for helpingthese people with retraining and job-search assistance." The advance warning gives agency officials - the so-calledrapid-response team - time to visit workplaces "during thelunch hour or after work," Santacroce said. T8 Led Tube Light
"Once peopleleave the plant, they're much more difficult to find." Under the law, said Heather Mullen, a partner with Kaufman &Canoles in Norfolk, an employer must notify the employees or theirunion representative; the highest elected local official in thearea; and the rapid response team. In Virginia, the communitycollege system oversees the response and runs the website. Yet not every layoff or closing requires a notice. For instance, layoffs of fewer than 500 people are not covered -unless they constitute at least 33 percent of the total workforceand number more than 49. New employees - those who have worked less than six months in thepast year - don't have to be counted toward the total. T5 Led Tube Light Manufacturer
Neither dopart-timers who work fewer than 20 hours a week. QVC Inc. confirmed in March that it was eliminating about 600 jobsat a call center in Chesapeake. It didn't post a WARN notice,spokesman Paul Capelli said in an email, because "virtuallyall of the positions.. China Led Tube Light Bulb
are part-time." Even if a WARN notice is required, the law provides threeexceptions allowing for notice of less than 60 days: If a companyis seeking "new capital" to stay afloat or if the closingor layoffs came from "unforeseeable businesscircumstances" or "a natural disaster." A Virginia WARN listing in April said TRG Customer Solutions wouldlay off 371 people at its call center in Hampton. The "notice date" on the website - the day TRG informedthe Virginia Community College System - was April 4. The"impact date," when the first layoffs were to occur, was26 days later, April 30. The layoffs were triggered by a client's decision not to renew acontract.
"We issued it as soon as we could," saidCatherine Doherty, chief people officer of the Jacksonville,Fla.-based company. "I don't have the number of days in frontof me, but we received less than 60 days' notice" from theclient. Some companies post a WARN notice before they know whether acontract will be renewed. Serco Inc., a Fairfax-based federalcontractor that provides technology and management services,announced 58 layoffs in late April. Although the "re-compete process was still going on" fora contract due to expire in June, Serco issued a WARN reportbecause "that's how we interpret the requirements," saidAlan Hill, a spokesman for the company.
The initial Serco posting on the WARN website listed April 25 asthe notice date and April 18 as the impact date. After a questionfrom a reporter, the Virginia Community College System acknowledgedlast month that it had made an error and changed the impact date toJune 18. An engineering executive said keeping to the WARN requirements canchallenge companies because of the fluid nature of IDIQ -"indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity" - federalcontracts. "It isn't always apparent how the work will be spread over theperiod of performance," said Dan Ries, director of the marineservices division at Delphinus Engineering Inc. in Norfolk, whichissued a WARN notice on April 26 announcing 46 layoffs to start twodays later.
A week before the notice, "when we put the big picturetogether, we had this large job ending and several projects thatwere planned for this period moving to the right because ofscheduling issues with the government," Ries said. "Itcreated this big workload hole for us, specifically in June andJuly." Delphinus has laid off only eight people, Ries said, and might hirethem back with new contracts. Ries said he's still glad Delphinusissued the notice. State officials "provided lots ofassistance and lots of information so that those folks that areaffected have the ability to know how to go about filing forunemployment and what the benefits would be." Klinedinst, a partner with Vandeventer Black LLP, a Norfolk lawfirm, said she generally advises companies to post a notice ifthey're in doubt.
That ensures they'll be in the clear legally.Employers found to have violated the law must provide affectedworkers up to 60 days of back pay and penalties. On the other hand, Kline-dinst said, a WARN announcement mightincrease the likelihood of employees committing sabotage or filingfalse workers' compensation claims. From a public relations standpoint, Santacroce said, issuing a WARNannouncement beats the alternative. "Laying off 1,000 workers without any notice doesn't doanything for your public image," he said. "But coming tothe table and saying, 'We've got to close, we're sorry to do this,we're giving you as much advance notice as possible' - it's betterbusiness." No federal agency enforces the law.
Mary Brandenberger, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Labor,said in an email: "The WARN statute does not provide DOLenforcement authority. Enforcement authority resides with U.S.District Courts upon a lawsuit being filed for alleged violationsof WARN." That places the responsibility on employees to challenge allegedviolations. It happens sometimes. In September, a former engineerat Solyndra, a California-based solar company that closed after itreceived a $528 million federal loan, sued Solyndra, alleging WARNviolations.
But Tommy Bell, business manager for Iron Workers Local 79 inNorfolk, said alleged violations put workers in a near-impossiblespot: "An employee is faced with a decision: Call the employer outon their infraction and seek back pay or say nothing and let themget away with it in the hopes they may go back to work for them.I'm guessing most people would fall into the latter category." Philip Walzer, 757-222-3864, phil.walzer@pilotonline.com.
"It's very tricky what is a mass layoff and aplant closing" under the law, said Arlene Klinedinst, aNorfolk attorney who represents businesses. "There are exceptions you can drive a truck through,"said David Santa-croce, a law professor at the University ofMichigan. Santacroce said he thinks many businesses don't comply. In 2003,the U.S. Government Accountability Office estimated that a majoritydon't.
"Employers provided notice for approximately one-third oflayoffs and closures that appear subject to WARNrequirements," the agency said in a report. The study also found that "certain definitions andcalculations of WARN are difficult for employers and employees toapply." The prospects for tighter enforcement are dim: The law doesn'trequire any agency to monitor compliance or take action againstcompanies that commit violations. It's up to workers to sue if theyfeel they haven't been given adequate warning. Santacroce explained the thinking behind the 1989 law: "One of the most difficult things, after death and divorce, isthe loss of a job. The law was designed to give notice not just toworkers, but to the state agency that's responsible for helpingthese people with retraining and job-search assistance." The advance warning gives agency officials - the so-calledrapid-response team - time to visit workplaces "during thelunch hour or after work," Santacroce said. T8 Led Tube Light
"Once peopleleave the plant, they're much more difficult to find." Under the law, said Heather Mullen, a partner with Kaufman &Canoles in Norfolk, an employer must notify the employees or theirunion representative; the highest elected local official in thearea; and the rapid response team. In Virginia, the communitycollege system oversees the response and runs the website. Yet not every layoff or closing requires a notice. For instance, layoffs of fewer than 500 people are not covered -unless they constitute at least 33 percent of the total workforceand number more than 49. New employees - those who have worked less than six months in thepast year - don't have to be counted toward the total. T5 Led Tube Light Manufacturer
Neither dopart-timers who work fewer than 20 hours a week. QVC Inc. confirmed in March that it was eliminating about 600 jobsat a call center in Chesapeake. It didn't post a WARN notice,spokesman Paul Capelli said in an email, because "virtuallyall of the positions.. China Led Tube Light Bulb
are part-time." Even if a WARN notice is required, the law provides threeexceptions allowing for notice of less than 60 days: If a companyis seeking "new capital" to stay afloat or if the closingor layoffs came from "unforeseeable businesscircumstances" or "a natural disaster." A Virginia WARN listing in April said TRG Customer Solutions wouldlay off 371 people at its call center in Hampton. The "notice date" on the website - the day TRG informedthe Virginia Community College System - was April 4. The"impact date," when the first layoffs were to occur, was26 days later, April 30. The layoffs were triggered by a client's decision not to renew acontract.
"We issued it as soon as we could," saidCatherine Doherty, chief people officer of the Jacksonville,Fla.-based company. "I don't have the number of days in frontof me, but we received less than 60 days' notice" from theclient. Some companies post a WARN notice before they know whether acontract will be renewed. Serco Inc., a Fairfax-based federalcontractor that provides technology and management services,announced 58 layoffs in late April. Although the "re-compete process was still going on" fora contract due to expire in June, Serco issued a WARN reportbecause "that's how we interpret the requirements," saidAlan Hill, a spokesman for the company.
The initial Serco posting on the WARN website listed April 25 asthe notice date and April 18 as the impact date. After a questionfrom a reporter, the Virginia Community College System acknowledgedlast month that it had made an error and changed the impact date toJune 18. An engineering executive said keeping to the WARN requirements canchallenge companies because of the fluid nature of IDIQ -"indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity" - federalcontracts. "It isn't always apparent how the work will be spread over theperiod of performance," said Dan Ries, director of the marineservices division at Delphinus Engineering Inc. in Norfolk, whichissued a WARN notice on April 26 announcing 46 layoffs to start twodays later.
A week before the notice, "when we put the big picturetogether, we had this large job ending and several projects thatwere planned for this period moving to the right because ofscheduling issues with the government," Ries said. "Itcreated this big workload hole for us, specifically in June andJuly." Delphinus has laid off only eight people, Ries said, and might hirethem back with new contracts. Ries said he's still glad Delphinusissued the notice. State officials "provided lots ofassistance and lots of information so that those folks that areaffected have the ability to know how to go about filing forunemployment and what the benefits would be." Klinedinst, a partner with Vandeventer Black LLP, a Norfolk lawfirm, said she generally advises companies to post a notice ifthey're in doubt.
That ensures they'll be in the clear legally.Employers found to have violated the law must provide affectedworkers up to 60 days of back pay and penalties. On the other hand, Kline-dinst said, a WARN announcement mightincrease the likelihood of employees committing sabotage or filingfalse workers' compensation claims. From a public relations standpoint, Santacroce said, issuing a WARNannouncement beats the alternative. "Laying off 1,000 workers without any notice doesn't doanything for your public image," he said. "But coming tothe table and saying, 'We've got to close, we're sorry to do this,we're giving you as much advance notice as possible' - it's betterbusiness." No federal agency enforces the law.
Mary Brandenberger, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Labor,said in an email: "The WARN statute does not provide DOLenforcement authority. Enforcement authority resides with U.S.District Courts upon a lawsuit being filed for alleged violationsof WARN." That places the responsibility on employees to challenge allegedviolations. It happens sometimes. In September, a former engineerat Solyndra, a California-based solar company that closed after itreceived a $528 million federal loan, sued Solyndra, alleging WARNviolations.
But Tommy Bell, business manager for Iron Workers Local 79 inNorfolk, said alleged violations put workers in a near-impossiblespot: "An employee is faced with a decision: Call the employer outon their infraction and seek back pay or say nothing and let themget away with it in the hopes they may go back to work for them.I'm guessing most people would fall into the latter category." Philip Walzer, 757-222-3864, phil.walzer@pilotonline.com.
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