Workforce Bulletin

A reduction in force (RIF) is a complex process that demands more than just operational adjustments. It requires meticulous planning to align business objectives with legal compliance, sound decision-making, and thorough risk mitigation.

In this one-on-one interview, Epstein Becker Green attorney Ann Knuckles Mahoney joins George Whipple to unpack the intricate legal considerations that come with workforce reductions. Ann walks through the critical aspects of adhering to the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act and the challenges posed by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, especially for employers handling layoffs across multiple jurisdictions.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the efforts to limit its spread caused a sudden and dramatic shutdown of large sections of the U.S. economy.  Governmental shelter in place orders requiring non-essential businesses to temporarily close forced untold numbers of businesses to furlough or terminate most, and in many cases all, of their employees with little or no warning. For larger employers, mass layoffs and terminations of operations such as these, would normally trigger notification requirements under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (“WARN”) Act (as ...

In a rare case interpreting the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (“WARN”) Act “sale of business” exception, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8^th Circuit recently held in Day v. Celadon Trucking Servs., Inc., 8th Cir., No. 15-1711 (July 5, 2016) that a buyer of a business remained liable under WARN to the seller’s employees to whom the buyer did not make offers of employment, despite provisions in the asset purchase agreement (“APA”) that placed all WARN Act liability on the seller.

The case arose out of a typical asset purchase transaction between ...