Washington Enacts Mini-WARN Act

On May 13, 2025, Washington enacted the Securing Timely Notification and Benefits for Laid-Off Employees Act (Act), which requires covered employers to give 60 days’ advance notice prior to a mass layoff or business closing. The Act takes effect on July 27, 2025.

Overview of the Act
Employers with 50 or more full-time employees (i.e., employees employed for an average of 20 or more hours per week and for six or more of the preceding 12 months) in the state must provide at least 60 days’ advance notice to affected employees, union representatives and the Washington Employment Security Department (WESD) prior to:

• Business closings—A permanent or temporary shutdown of a single employment site or one or more facilities or operating units that will result in an employment loss for 50 or more full-time employees; and
• Mass layoffs—A reduction in force not due to a business closing that results in an employment loss of 50 or more full-time employees in a 30-day period.

“Employment loss” means termination (other than for cause, voluntary separation or retirement), a layoff exceeding six months, or a reduction in hours of more than 50% in each month of a six-month period.

Unless notification is excused, employers may not include any employee taking leave under the Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave Law in a mass layoff.

Notice Contents
Notice must be in written form and must contain:

• The name and address of the affected site and contact information of a company official;
• A statement as to whether the action is temporary or permanent (and, if temporary, whether it will last more or less than three months);
• The expected date of the first employment loss and schedule of losses;
• Affected job titles and employee names (and, for notices to the WESD, employee addresses); and
• Whether the action is the result of or will result in the relocation or contracting out of employer operations or employee positions.