New Jersey WARN Act: Employer Requirements
New Jersey WARN Act rules: 90 days notice, a 100-employee threshold counting part-timers, a statewide layoff trigger, and mandatory severance pay.
New Jersey has the strictest layoff notice law in the United States, and it is one of the few where statutory severance rides on every covered reduction rather than on a negotiation or a single triggering event. If you employ people there, I would settle three questions before setting a layoff date: who this law covers, what its notice requires, and what its severance will cost.
Four rules set it apart from the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. Ninety days of notice instead of the federal sixty. A threshold counted across the whole state rather than at one site. Part-time employees counted where federal law excludes them. And one week of pay per full year of service owed to every affected employee, whether or not the notice was perfect.
That last point is what makes this different in kind from the federal WARN Act. Elsewhere, a notice failure creates a risk of litigation. In New Jersey, a covered reduction creates a calculable payroll cost on the day it happens, before anyone disputes anything. If you are budgeting a reduction in force in New Jersey, that number belongs in the model from the start.
Does New Jersey Have One?
Yes. The formal name is the Millville Dallas Airmotive Plant Job Loss Notification Act, and it is referred to everywhere as the NJ WARN Act. It operates alongside federal WARN, and where the two differ, the New Jersey requirements are stricter on nearly every point.
The notice period illustrates how the two interact. New Jersey requires 90 days, or the period required by federal law, whichever is longer. Giving the federal 60 days does not satisfy New Jersey, and an employer complying with both simply works to the 90-day clock.
Which Employers Are Covered
Employers with 100 or more employees. The 2023 amendments changed how that number is reached, and the change pulls in employers who were previously outside the law.
| Counting question | Before April 2023 | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Part-time employees | Excluded from the count | Counted, regardless of hours worked |
| Employees under six months of service | Excluded from the count | Counted |
| What counts as an establishment | A single place of employment | A single location or a group of locations in New Jersey |
| Layoff trigger scope | At a single establishment | Across the entire state |
| Percentage requirement | 50 or more who were one third of the establishment, or 500 or more | No percentage requirement at all |
Two rows there do most of the damage to an employer's assumptions. Counting part-time employees toward the 100 means a retail or hospitality business with a large hourly roster can be covered while believing it is well below the line. And removing the percentage requirement means the familiar federal arithmetic, where 50 separations only matter if they represent a third of the site, simply does not apply.
One definition does cut the other way. The Act reaches an establishment only where the employer has operated that place of employment for longer than three years, and it excludes temporary construction sites outright (N.J.S.A. 34:21-1). A location opened two years ago sits outside the statute on its own terms, whatever the headcount.
What Triggers Notice
Three events trigger the obligation: a mass layoff, a termination of operations (shutting down an establishment, or part of one), or a transfer of operations (moving it to another location). The mass layoff definition is where New Jersey departs most sharply from federal law.
A mass layoff is a reduction in force that terminates 50 or more employees at or reporting to an establishment during any 30-day period, other than one resulting from a transfer or termination of operations. The 50 are counted statewide, part-time employees included, with no percentage test.
The reach extends to remote workers. The trigger counts employees "at or reporting to" an establishment, which brings in people who work remotely, including those who live outside New Jersey, whenever a New Jersey location is their reporting home. For a distributed team with a New Jersey office at the center of it, the WARN headcount can be considerably larger than the number of desks.
Several separations are carved out of the count. The statute does not treat a separation as a termination of employment at all when the employer offers the same job, or one with equivalent status, benefits, pay, and other terms, at a New Jersey location no more than 50 miles from the previous place of employment. Voluntary departures, retirements, discharges for misconduct, and seasonal layoffs sit outside the count too.
The 90-Day Notice
Ninety days of advance written notice, or the federal period if longer. The notice content requirements are more detailed than the federal ones.
| Required element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Numbers and dates | The number of employees whose employment will be terminated and the dates on which the action and each termination will occur |
| Reason | The reason for the mass layoff, transfer of operations, or termination of operations |
| Alternative employment | Any employment available at another establishment operated by the employer, with pay, benefits, other terms, and the location |
| Employee rights | Rights as to wages, severance pay, benefits, pension, and other terms, including rights under any collective bargaining agreement |
| Statutory severance | A disclosure of the amount of severance pay payable under the Act, which is a required element rather than a courtesy |
| Response team rights | A statement of the right of employees to information, referral, and counseling from the state response team |
The alternative-employment disclosure has no counterpart in the federal notice rules and is easy to overlook. If the company has openings at any other establishment it operates, in New Jersey or elsewhere, the notice has to say so and describe the terms, not merely mention that transfers may be possible.
Two more rules govern the notice itself. It must be in writing, and on the state labor commissioner's form once one is available, so a custom letter does not meet the requirement. It must also state the severance amount, which means you have to finish the calculation before the notice goes out.
Mandatory Severance Pay
Every affected employee is entitled to severance of one week of pay for each full year of employment. This is owed whether or not the employer gave proper notice. If the full 90 days was not given, each affected employee is entitled to four additional weeks on top.
The weekly rate is the higher of the employee's average regular rate of compensation over their last three years of employment or the final regular rate paid to them. Any federal WARN back pay the employer pays for the same event is credited toward this amount rather than stacked on top of it.
Timing follows from how the statute classifies the money. Severance under the Act is "regarded as compensation due to an employee for back pay and losses associated with the termination of the employment relationship, and earned in full upon the termination of the employment relationship," so it counts as wages owed at separation rather than a payment negotiated afterward.
Here is what that produces in practice, at an illustrative regular rate of $1,200 per week.
| Full years of service | With 90 days notice | With short notice | Cost at $1,200 per week, short notice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1 year | No statutory weeks | 4 weeks | $4,800 |
| 2 years | 2 weeks | 6 weeks | $7,200 |
| 5 years | 5 weeks | 9 weeks | $10,800 |
| 10 years | 10 weeks | 14 weeks | $16,800 |
| 15 years | 15 weeks | 19 weeks | $22,800 |
| 20 years | 20 weeks | 24 weeks | $28,800 |
Multiply across a workforce and the shape of the obligation becomes clear. A reduction of 50 employees averaging seven years of service at that rate carries $420,000 in statutory severance with proper notice, and $660,000 without it. The four-week penalty applies per employee, not once, and it lands on top of severance that is owed anyway.
The number has to be built person by person, because both inputs vary by person: the weekly rate is whichever is higher of two figures, and the week count depends on completed years of service. Build the rate first, then the severance, so the arithmetic can be checked later without reconstructing it.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Employee | Job title | Hire date | Final date of employment | Average regular rate, last 3 years (per week) | Final regular rate (per week) | Weekly rate used (the higher of the two) | Source of the figures |
| 2 | [Name] | [Title] | [MM/DD/YYYY] | [MM/DD/YYYY] | [Rate] | [Rate] | [Higher of the two] | [Payroll report and date pulled] |
| 3 | ||||||||
| 4 | ||||||||
| 5 | ||||||||
| 6 | ||||||||
| 7 | ||||||||
| 8 | ||||||||
| 9 |
Mandatory severance also changes the usual planning logic. In most states, severance is discretionary and often used to reduce WARN exposure. In New Jersey the statutory amount is a floor that exists independently, so the conversation about additional severance pay starts above it rather than at zero.
Who Receives the Notice
Four parties receive the notice: New Jersey's Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development, the chief elected official of the municipality, each employee being terminated, and any collective bargaining unit.
Only the commissioner's notice goes through the state's online WARN portal. The employer delivers the other three itself: the municipality gets a PDF of the portal filing, and each employee and bargaining unit gets written notice on the state form.
Splitting the submission across two channels is a practical trap. Filing through the portal does not notify the municipality, and sending paper to everyone does not notify the commissioner in the required manner. Confirm the current forms and submission method with the department before filing (New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development).
Because the four notices leave the building by two different routes on possibly different days, the only reliable proof that all four went out is a log kept while it happens. Fill this in as each one goes, not afterwards from memory.
Penalties and Enforcement
The core exposure is the severance itself, which is why New Jersey is different: the cost arrives with the layoff rather than with a lawsuit. On top of that sit the four additional weeks per employee for short notice, and litigation exposure including attorney fees.
The remedy is set out in section 34:21-6. An employee or former employee harmed by a violation may sue in Superior Court, individually or on behalf of everyone affected. A court that finds a violation awards the costs of the action, including reasonable attorney fees, plus compensatory damages for lost wages, benefits, and other remuneration. Compensatory damages for lost wages are capped at the required severance amount.
The lack of state enforcement matters in two ways, and neither makes planning easier. There is no agency to call, no compliance conference, and no administrative route to resolve a borderline situation before it becomes a claim. And because no agency has rulemaking authority, several ambiguities introduced by the 2023 amendments have not been resolved by regulation, so employers work through them with legal advice rather than official guidance.
The department does publish filed WARN notices in a public archive, which means a filing that does not match the actual event is visible to anyone who looks, including plaintiffs' lawyers.
Kelly KapoorCustomer ServiceUp to Date
Darryl PhilbinWarehouseNeeds Attention
Ryan HowardSalesUp to DateNew Jersey vs Federal
Both laws can apply to the same reduction. Complying with federal WARN does not satisfy the New Jersey obligation on any of the points below. The federal definitions are set out at 29 U.S.C. 2101, and the federal remedies at 29 U.S.C. 2104.
| Requirement | Federal WARN | New Jersey |
|---|---|---|
| Employer threshold | 100 or more, excluding part-time | 100 or more, including part-time and short-tenure employees |
| Notice period | 60 days | 90 days, or the federal period if longer |
| Layoff trigger | 50 to 499 at a single site if 33 percent, or 500 or more | 50 or more statewide, no percentage requirement |
| Remote employees | Assigned to a single site of employment | Counted where they report to a New Jersey establishment |
| Severance | Not required | One week per full year of service, mandatory |
| Short notice penalty | Back pay and benefits up to 60 days | Four additional weeks of pay per employee |
| Release of claims | Not addressed | No waiver of the severance is effective without commissioner or court approval |
| Enforcement | Federal district court; DOL does not enforce | Private litigation; state agency has no enforcement authority |
The severance row is the one that changes decisions rather than paperwork, and it is rare without being unique. Maine also requires one week of pay per year of employment when an employer closes a covered establishment or conducts a mass layoff there (26 M.R.S. 625-B).
The Maine version is narrower on both ends. It reaches only employees continuously employed for at least three years, and only those two events. New Jersey owes severance in every covered reduction, from the first full year of service, whether or not notice was timely.
Three other states run a 90-day clock. New York requires 90 days and is broader in other ways, covering employers at 50 rather than 100 and adding relocation and reduced-hours triggers, but it has no severance mandate.
Maine requires 90 days before closing a covered establishment or relocating it 100 or more miles away. A mass layoff there only has to be reported to the director of the Bureau of Labor Standards as far in advance as practicable, and within 7 days of the layoff at the latest.
Nebraska is the newest of the three. Its act took effect on July 18, 2026, and requires 90 days of written notice from employers with 100 or more employees. The duty applies only when a closing or mass layoff costs 100 or more employees their jobs at a single site, and part-time staff are not counted (Nebraska Legislature, LB 921).
An employer operating across those states works to the same 90-day calendar for a closing in each, but the money behind the notice differs. New Jersey attaches severance to every covered reduction, Maine attaches it to closings and mass layoffs at establishments of 100 or more, and New York and Nebraska attach none at all.
Under the Threshold
Below 100 employees, NJ WARN does not apply and no statutory severance is owed. Most small businesses in the state fall below that line, and it is worth saying plainly, because the severance rule causes a lot of anxiety among employers who are nowhere near the threshold.
Count carefully before concluding you are below it, though. Part-time staff and people with under six months of service now count, so a business with 70 full-time and 40 part-time employees is over the line even though it thinks of itself as a 70-person company.
If you are genuinely below, the remaining obligations are the ordinary ones. The New Jersey final pay deadline comes first, because it runs on its own clock no matter how the separation was decided.
The rest of the sequence is paperwork and access. A written termination letter goes out, a documented offboarding run happens alongside it, systems access comes off the same day, and the record of how people were selected gets retained.
Any severance you choose to offer in that situation is voluntary and can be exchanged for a release, which is the normal arrangement everywhere except a covered NJ WARN event. A severance letter that states the amount, the timing, and what is being agreed keeps that clean.
Keeping that sequence out of an email thread is where FirstHR helps: separation documents go out for e-signature with a dated record, offboarding tasks are assigned and tracked, and the signed documents file against the employee profile. FirstHR is an onboarding and HR platform, not a law firm and not a payroll provider, so it does not determine WARN coverage, calculate statutory severance, or issue payments. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does New Jersey have its own WARN Act?
Yes, and it is the strictest in the country. The Millville Dallas Airmotive Plant Job Loss Notification Act, universally called the NJ WARN Act, was substantially amended effective April 10, 2023. It applies to employers with 100 or more employees, requires 90 days of advance written notice rather than the federal 60, counts the layoff threshold across the entire state rather than at a single establishment, and requires severance pay of one week per full year of service to every affected employee. Maine also puts severance in statute, but only for employees with at least three years of continuous service at a covered establishment. In New Jersey the week-per-year severance starts with the first full year of employment and applies to every covered reduction regardless of the notice given. Because the amendments changed several rules at once, guidance published before April 2023 describes a materially different law and should not be relied on.
How much severance does the NJ WARN Act require?
Every affected employee is owed a week's pay for each full year of service, even when the employer gave the full 90 days of notice. Giving less than the full 90 days adds another four weeks of pay for each of them. To find the weekly figure, compare two numbers for each person: their average regular rate of compensation across their final three years of employment, and the last regular rate they were paid. Whichever is higher is the rate. The statute counts this money as back pay due to the employee, earned in full the moment employment ends, which places it alongside final wages rather than in a settlement negotiated later. Until the 2023 amendments, severance was due only when notice fell short. Now it is due either way, which turned it from a penalty into a standing cost of any covered reduction in New Jersey.
Can NJ WARN severance be conditioned on signing a release?
Not on the employer's own say-so. A waiver of this severance counts only if the state labor commissioner or a court with jurisdiction over the matter approves it, so an employee's signature on a separation agreement does not cancel the entitlement by itself. The statute adds a second barrier by classing the severance as back pay that is earned in full at termination, which means it cannot be what the employer pays for a release. Employers can still ask for an enforceable release of claims, but they have to offer consideration for it, meaning value beyond what the employee is already owed. Using the statutory severance as that consideration is a common and expensive mistake. This is general information, not legal advice.
How many employees trigger the NJ WARN Act?
Two numbers decide it: 100 or more employees for the employer to be covered, and 50 or more terminations within any 30-day period to trigger notice. Since the 2023 amendments, the 100 includes part-timers and anyone with less than six months of service, both of whom federal WARN leaves out. Part-time staff also count toward the 50, which are tallied statewide rather than site by site and do not have to make up any set share of the workforce. A company with five New Jersey locations that lets ten people go at each has arguably reached the trigger. Rounds of layoffs spread across a 90-day period are added together unless the employer can show that each round had its own separate cause.
Who enforces the New Jersey WARN Act?
Not the state labor department. The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development says it has no authority to enforce the Act or to issue rules under it, and that its part is limited to sending the rapid response team and providing the notification form. Affected employees enforce the law themselves, by suing. For employers, that has two practical effects. You cannot negotiate with an agency, ask for a compliance conference, or use an administrative process to settle a dispute before it reaches court. And with no agency writing regulations under the Act, several gray areas in the amended statute still lack an official answer, so you interpret them without official guidance to rely on.
Do remote employees count toward the NJ WARN Act?
They can. The statute counts employees who work at an establishment or report to one, so a remote employee whose reporting home is a New Jersey location is included, even one who lives in another state. Federal WARN assigns each remote worker to a single site of employment, so New Jersey reaches further, and the difference matters for any employer whose New Jersey office is where a distributed team reports. Add the statewide counting rule and the inclusion of part-time staff, and the WARN headcount in New Jersey often comes out higher than employers expect on their first count. Before you decide a reduction falls below the threshold, count everyone who reports to the New Jersey location, not just the people who sit in the building.
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