Interactive tool

WARN Act Eligibility Checker

Enter the headcount details of a planned layoff to see whether the federal WARN Act's 60-day advance-notice requirement is triggered — and where a stricter state law may apply.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the federal WARN Act requires employers with 100 or more staff to give 60 days’ written notice before a qualifying mass layoff or plant closing. PlainLayoffs has compiled more than 4,800 such notices covering more than 930,000 workers as of March 2026; this checker applies the same statutory thresholds those filings are measured against. See our methodology for sourcing.

The layoff

Full-time employees company-wide (the federal floor is 100).

Used to test the “50+ workers and 33% of the site” rule.

How the federal WARN Act test works

The federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act applies to employers with 100 or more full-time employees. When it applies, the employer must give 60 calendar days’ written notice before either a plant closing (a site shutdown cutting 50+ jobs) or a mass layoff. A mass layoff is defined two ways: 500 or more workers at a single site, or 50–499 workers when that group is at least 33% of the active workforce at the site.

Several states set a lower bar through their own “mini-WARN” laws. California, for example, applies at 75 employees and 50 affected workers; New York requires notice for 25+ affected workers and gives 90 days. This checker reports the federal result and flags when a stricter state rule is likely to matter — it is an educational estimate, not legal advice.