Section 205 of the Congressional Accountability Act (CAA) extends certain rights and protections of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) to covered employees. Specifically, Section 205 provides that no employing office can be closed or a mass layoff ordered until after affected employees or their exclusive representative or bargaining agent have received written notice 60 days in advance. This allows workers and their families some transition time to adjust to the possible loss of employment, to seek and obtain alternative jobs, and, if necessary, to enter skill training or retraining to enable the workers to successfully compete in the job market.

Who Must Give Notice?

• An employing office that is anticipating an office closing or mass layoff and employs either:
• 100 or more employees, not including parttime employees; or
• 100 or more employees, including part-time employees, who collectively work at least 4,000 hours per week without counting overtime
• An employing office that has previously announced and carried out a “short-term layoff ” to last less than 6 months, and later chooses to extend the layoff for longer than 6 months because of unforeseen circumstances
• An employing office that is privatizing or selling some or all of its operations, and plans to undergo an office closing or mass layoff as part of that transaction

Notice Requirements

Notice must be in writing and include:

1. The name and address of the employment site where the office closing or mass layoff will occur, and necessary contact information;
2. A statement as to whether the planned action is expected to be permanent or temporary; and whether the entire office is to be closed;
3. The expected date of the first termination and the anticipated schedule for all planned terminations;
4. The job titles of positions to be affected and the names of the workers currently holding affected jobs;