New Jersey: Pending Expansive Amendment to WARN Act Delayed

Like the City of Philadelphia, the state of New Jersey will offer some relief to employers impacted by COVID-19 with regard to reductions-in-force.  Governor Phil Murphy signed into law S-2353, a bill that makes important changes to the Millville Dallas Airmotive Plant Job Loss Notification Act (NJ WARN Act) due to the influence of COVID-19.

Delay of NJ WARN Amendment

Earlier this year, the NJ WARN Act was expanded, incorporating stricter regulations for large reductions in force.  Previously scheduled to go into effect on July 19, 2020, S-2353 delays implementation of these changes. As a result, the amendments will not take effect until 90 days after Executive Order 103 (declaration of a state of emergency related to COVID-19) is lifted.  Executive Order 103, by extension, is scheduled to expire on June 6, 2020, putting the new effective date for the NJ WARN amendments at September 4, 2020, absent any further extensions to the executive order.

Retroactive Clarification on NJ WARN Exceptions

The second component of S-2353 is an additional amendment clarifying an exception for disasters and national emergencies.  The amendment makes it clear that the NJ WARN act cannot be triggered by any actions, including mass layoffs, that are necessary because of fire, flood, natural disaster, national emergency, act of war, etc.  This amendment is effective retroactive to March 9, 2020.

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