Stronger Worker Protection: 90-Day Layoff Notice and Expanded Employer Liability.
This bill significantly strengthens worker protections against sudden job loss by extending the mandatory advance notice period for mass layoffs and site closings from 60 to 90 days. It lowers the threshold for covered employers to those with 50 or more employees and includes remote workers in layoff calculations. Crucially, it introduces new financial penalties and prevents employers from using pre-dispute agreements to waive employees' rights to sue.
Key points
Mandatory advance notice period for mass layoffs or site closings is extended from 60 to 90 calendar days.
The definition of a covered employer is lowered to businesses with 50 or more employees, and liability is extended to parent or contracting companies.
New penalties include 30 days of liquidated damages in addition to back pay and benefits for failure to provide proper notice.
Employees' rights to pursue claims, including class actions, cannot be waived through pre-dispute agreements like mandatory arbitration clauses.
The Department of Labor must create a public database containing information on all reported mass layoffs and site closings.
Expired
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