Quick Hits

• Ohio WARN largely mirrors the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act by requiring covered employers to provide sixty days’ advance notice before a plant closing or mass layoff.
• Ohio WARN includes ambiguities regarding its stated intent and which “mass layoffs” will trigger its notice requirements.
• Ohio WARN includes state-specific notice content requirements, including “[a] detailed statement explaining the reason” for the closure or mass layoff and information about available support for impacted employees.
• Ohio WARN incorporates federal WARN exceptions and remedies but imposes an additional required notice to be provided to the chief elected officer for the county in which the plant closing or mass layoff occurs.

Sixty-Day Notice Requirement and Exceptions

Like its federal counterpart, Ohio WARN requires covered employers to provide at least sixty days’ advance written notice before a qualifying layoff or closure. Ohio WARN also expressly adopts federal WARN’s exceptions to its sixty-day notice requirement, including shortened notice periods resulting from unforeseeable business circumstances, faltering businesses, and natural disasters. Ohio WARN also includes federal WARN’s notice exception for strikes and lockouts.

Ohio WARN Coverage, Trigger Events, and Ambiguity

Ohio’s WARN law specifies that notice is required by employers that:

• employ at least one hundred employees who collectively work a minimum of 4,000 hours each week; and
• conduct a plant closing or lay off fifty or more employees at a single site of employment within a thirty-day period.

Ohio WARN also specifically states:

• that its requirements “do not establish a different standard than that established by federal statutes and regulations”; and
• it adopts federal WARN’s definitions of “employer,” “plant closing,” and “mass layoff.”

Despite the above, Ohio WARN also states that employers must provide sixty days’ notice to employees whenever an “employer lays off fifty or more employees at a single site of employment during any thirty-day period.”

Under federal WARN, notice is only required for a “mass layoff” when an employer lays off fifty or more full-time employees at a single site of employment and the total number of laid-off employees equals 33 percent or more of the total employee headcount at the site of employment. As such, Ohio WARN presents ambiguity regarding whether the 33 percent or more qualifier applies to layoffs. In addition, Ohio WARN does not expressly adopt federal WARN’s potential ninety-day aggregation window for determining whether multiple mass layoffs may trigger notice requirements—making it unclear as to whether layoffs outside of a thirty-day window should be counted together when determining whether notice is required.

‘WARN-Plus’ Notice: Enhanced Notice Content Requirements

In addition to federal WARN’s requirements, Ohio WARN imposes additional notice requirements. It also requires notice to be provided to the chief elected official of the county where the plant closing or mass layoff is to occur—an obligation that does not exist under federal WARN.

Notices provided to nonrepresented employees must contain:

• a detailed statement explaining the reason for the plant closing or mass layoff;
• procedures for exercising bumping rights (if such rights exist);
• information on how affected employees can access unemployment insurance benefits and other assistance programs; and
• information about any available services for affected employees, including job placement assistance, retraining programs, or counseling services.

Notices provided to union representatives of affected employees must contain:

• a detailed statement explaining the reason for the plant closing or mass layoff; and
• the total number of employees affected by the plant closing or mass layoff, including the employees’ job titles or positions, and any department or division impacted.

Notice provided to the director of job and family services and to the chief elected officials of the municipal corporation and the county where the plant closing or mass layoff is to occur must contain:

• a detailed statement explaining the reason for the plant closing or mass layoff;
• a description of any action taken or planned to mitigate the impact of the plant closing or mass layoff, including any efforts to secure alternative employment or training for affected employees;
• the total number of employees affected by the plant closing or mass layoff, including the employees’ job titles or positions and any department or division impacted; and
• a copy of the notice provided to affected employees or their representatives, as applicable.

The Ohio WARN law does not expressly adopt federal WARN’s “short-form” notice option, meaning employers are likely required to create and attach schedules to the notices provided to the director of job and family services and local elected officials containing the job title (or position) and department (or division) of each affected employee.

Penalties

Ohio WARN does not include a separate civil penalty recoverable by the state. Instead, it expressly incorporates remedies outlined in federal WARN—namely, employee wages and benefits for each day of violation and penalties up to $500 for each day of violation.

Important Deadlines and Next Steps

The statute becomes effective on September 29, 2025. Employers planning reductions in force that may coincide with this date may want to begin assessing their obligations well in advance to avoid unintentional noncompliance. Where applicable, employers may want to consider whether an ongoing but previously unannounced round of layoffs could trigger coverage on or after the effective date.

The statute states that the director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services may issue guidance and procedures for the submission and review of notices by employers.