Fourth Circuit Rules For Employer In WARN Act Case

Earlier this week the Fourth Circuit handed down a WARN Act decision in favor of the employer. The case is Long v. Dunlop Sports Group Americas, Inc. The WARN Act requires that certain employers provide their employees with written notice 60 days before a plant shutdown causes the employees an employment loss. In Long the Fourth Circuit agreed with the employer that there need not be 60 days between the notice and the shutdown (i.e., 60 days before the stoppage of work) so long as the employees are paid for 60 days after the notice. That is, there's no employment loss until the employer stops paying them. So an employer can give notice contemporaneously with the shutdown so long as it pays the employees for the 60-day period, regardless of whether they are actually performing work.