The Separation IndexState mini-WARN laws vs federal WARN
Last updated: September 1, 2026
The federal WARN Act sets a floor, not a ceiling. Several states have their own notification statutes — “mini-WARN” laws — that cover smaller employers, require longer notice, or trigger at smaller layoffs. Where both apply, an employer generally has to satisfy both, which in practice means the stricter one.
Every figure below is cited to the statute it comes from. Follow the citation rather than relying on this summary: the tests turn on definitions — what counts as a “single site,” who counts as part-time, which exceptions apply — that a comparison table cannot capture.
| Jurisdiction | Covered employer | Notice | Layoff size that triggers notice | How it differs from federal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Federal (baseline) 29 U.S.C. §§ 2101–2102 ↗ | 100+ employees, excluding part-time; or 100+ who together work 4,000+ hours/week | 60 days | Plant closing: 50+ at a single site in 30 days. Mass layoff: 33% of employees and 50+, or 500+ regardless of percentage. | — |
California (Cal-WARN) Cal. Lab. Code §§ 1400–1408 ↗ | 75+ persons employed, or employed within the preceding 12 months, at a covered establishment | 60 days | 50+ employees at a covered establishment in any 30-day period. | Lower employer threshold (75 vs 100) and no percentage test — 50 people can trigger it at a large site where federal law would need 33% or 500. The count looks back 12 months, so a shrinking employer can stay covered. |
New York (NY WARN) N.Y. Lab. Law §§ 860-a, 860-b ↗ | 50+ employees, excluding part-time; or 50+ who together work 2,000+ hours/week | 90 days | Plant closing: 25+ in 30 days. Mass layoff: 33% of employees and 25+, or 250+ regardless of percentage. | Half the federal employer threshold, 30 more days of notice, and every layoff-size trigger is lower. The widest gap of the five: an employer with 50 staff laying off 25 owes 90 days here and nothing federally. |
New Jersey (NJ WARN) N.J.S.A. §§ 34:21-1 et seq. (as amended eff. Apr. 10, 2023) ↗ | 100+ employees | 90 days | 50+ workers at a worksite. | The only one of the five that requires severance as a statutory matter: 1 week of pay per full year of service, owed on termination rather than as a penalty. Short notice adds 4 more weeks on top. No percentage test. |
Illinois (Illinois WARN) 820 ILCS 65/1 et seq. ↗ | 75+ full-time employees | 60 days | Mass layoff: 25+ full-time employees if they are one-third or more of the site, or 250+ regardless of percentage. | Lower employer threshold (75 vs 100) and a lower absolute floor (250 vs 500). Keeps the federal one-third structure, so the shape of the test is familiar — the numbers are simply smaller. |
Wisconsin Wis. Stat. § 109.07 ↗ | 50+ persons employed in the state | 60 days | Business closing: 25+ employees affected. Mass layoff: 25% of the workforce or 25 employees, whichever is greater, or 500+. | Counts employees statewide rather than at one site, so a distributed employer can be covered where federal law would not reach it. Uses a 25% test rather than 33%, with a "whichever is greater" floor. |
This list is not complete
The five states above are the ones detailed here, not the only states with a WARN-equivalent law. Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vermont also have statutes or regulations addressing layoff or plant-closing notification, and they vary widely in scope — some are narrow, some apply only to specific industries, and at least one is voluntary. If your state is not in the table, that means it is not covered here, not that no state law applies to you.
What this page is
A reference summary of published statutes, for orientation before reading the statute itself. It is not legal advice, it is not a determination that any law applies to any particular layoff, and it is not a substitute for reading the text or talking to someone qualified to interpret it. Statutes change; New Jersey’s current requirements, for instance, date from a 2023 amendment. Check the linked source for the version in force.