lawyer

In Illinois an employer is required to provide 60 days’ notice to the employee, representatives of the employee, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the chief elected official of each municipal and county government within which the employment loss, relocation, or mass layoff occurs.  However, employer is not required to provide notice if the employment loss, relocation or mass lay off is due to natural calamity or an act of terrorism or war.  Illinois WARN Act applies to employers who employ 75 or more full time employees or 75 or more employees who work at least a combined 4,000 hours per week (exclusive of overtime).

820 ILCS 65/10  Notice.

(a) An employer may not order a mass layoff, relocation, or employment loss unless, 60 days before the order takes effect, the employer gives written notice of the order to the following:

(1) affected employees and representatives of affected employees; and

(2) the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the chief elected official of each municipal and county government within which the employment loss, relocation, or mass layoff occurs.

(b) An employer required to give notice of any mass layoff, relocation, or employment loss under this Act shall include in its notice the elements required by the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2101 et seq.).

(c) Notwithstanding the requirements of subsection (a), an employer is not required to provide notice if a mass layoff, relocation, or employment loss is necessitated by a physical calamity or an act of terrorism or war.

(d) The mailing of notice to an employee s last known address or inclusion of notice in the employee s paycheck shall be considered acceptable methods for fulfillment of the employer s obligation to give notice to each affected employee under this Act.

(e) In the case of a sale of part or all of an employer s business, the seller shall be responsible for providing notice for any plant closing or mass layoff in accordance with this Section, up to and including the effective date of the sale. After the effective date of the sale of part or all of an employer s business, the purchaser shall be responsible for providing notice for any plant closing or mass layoff in accordance with this Section. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, any person who is an employee of the seller (other than a part-time employee) as of the effective date of the sale shall be considered an employee of the purchaser immediately after the effective date of the sale.

(f) An employer which is receiving State or local economic development incentives for doing or continuing to do business in this State may be required to provide additional notice pursuant to Section 15 of the Business Economic Support Act.

(g) The rights and remedies provided to employees by this Act are in addition to, and not in lieu of, any other contractual or statutory rights and remedies of the employees, and are not intended to alter or affect such rights and remedies, except that the period of notification required by this Act shall run concurrently with any period of notification required by contract or by any other law.

(h) It is the sense of the General Assembly that an employer who is not required to comply with the notice requirements of this Section should, to the extent possible, provide notice to its employees about a proposal to close a plant or permanently reduce its workforce.