New Jersey Explores Mandatory Severance for Mass Layoffs

In recent years, several large companies have laid off thousands of New Jersey workers. Although the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 (the “WARN Act”) provides some protection to employees of large companies during layoffs, many states, including New Jersey, have additional rules that supplement or reinforce the federal protections for workers subject to mass layoffs. A bill pending in the New Jersey Senate, however, would continue the state’s push to pioneer groundbreaking worker-friendly policies by extending additional protections to employees terminated in large workforce reductions.