Sec. 201. Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act

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A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

Section 2 of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act ( 29 U.S.C. 2101 ) is amended to read as follows: As used in this Act: The term affected employee means a full-time or part-time employee who may reasonably be expected to experience an employment loss as a consequence of a proposed plant closing or mass layoff by the employee's employer. The term employer means any business enterprise that— employs 50 or more employees, including part-time employees and including employees of the nominal employer and any entity that is the nominal employer's direct or indirect parent or is integrated with the nominal employer; or has an annual payroll of at least $2,000,000.

For the purposes of this paragraph: The term integrated , when used with respect to a business enterprise, means an entity whose relationship with another business enterprise includes— common ownership; common directors or officers; de facto exercise of control; unity of personnel policies emanating from a common source; or dependency of operations. The term parent means an entity, regardless of its financial interest in the nominal employer, that participates directly or indirectly in making decisions that affect the employees of the nominal employer or of multiple entities controlled by 1 person for a common business purpose.

In determining whether an entity is integrated with or a direct or indirect parent of a business enterprise that is the nominal employer, substantial weight shall be given to any decisionmaking responsibility the entity had for the practice that gave rise to the violation of this Act. Subject to subsection (b), the term employment loss means— an employment termination, other than a discharge for cause, voluntary departure, or retirement; a layoff exceeding 3 months; or a reduction in hours of work of more than 50 percent during each month of any 3-month period.

The term mass layoff means a reduction in force that results in an employment loss during any 90-day period— for 10 or more employees of an employer at a single site of employment, as calculated under subparagraph (B); or for 250 or more employees of an employer, irrespective of employment site. The number of employees at a single site who suffer an employment loss shall be calculated in a manner that includes— all such employees who work at the physical location of the site; and all such employees who work remotely and— are assigned to or otherwise associated with the site; receive assignments or training from the site; report to a manager associated with the site; or whose job loss was a foreseeable consequence of a reduction in force at the site.

The term plant closing means the permanent or temporary shutdown of a single site of employment, or one or more facilities or operating units within a single site of employment, that results in an employment loss at the single site of employment during any 30-day period for 5 or more employees, calculated in the same manner as described in paragraph (4)(B). The term representative means an exclusive representative of employees within the meaning of section 8(f) or 9(a) of the National Labor Relations Act ( 29 U.S.C. 158(f) ; 159(a)) or section 2 of the Railway Labor Act ( 45 U.S.C. 152 ).

The term Secretary means the Secretary of Labor. The term unit of local government means any general purpose political subdivision of a State which has the power to levy taxes and spend funds, as well as general corporate and police powers. An employee shall not be considered to have experienced an employment loss due to a plant closing or mass layoff if the plant closing or mass layoff is the result of the relocation or consolidation of part or all of the employer’s business and, prior to the plant closing or mass layoff— the employer offers to transfer the employee to a different site of employment within a reasonable commuting distance with no more than a 3-month break in employment; or the employer offers to transfer the employee to any other site of employment regardless of distance with no more than a 3-month break in employment, and the employee accepts within 30 days of the offer or of the plant closing or mass layoff, whichever is later. .

Section 3(a) of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act ( 29 U.S.C. 2102(a) ) is amended— in the first sentence— by redesignating paragraphs

(1)and

(2)as subparagraphs

(A)and (B), respectively; and by striking An employer and inserting

(1)An employer ; in the second sentence, by striking If there and inserting the following: If there ; and by adding at the end the following: If the plant closing or mass layoff involved is caused by conditions described in section 222(a)(2) of the Trade Act of 1974 ( 19 U.S.C. 2272(a)(2) ), then, in serving notice under paragraph (1)(A), the employer shall include in the notice information on the availability of adjustment assistance under chapter 2 of title II of the Trade Act of 1974 ( 19 U.S.C. 2271 et seq.) for eligible workers. . Section 3 of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act ( 29 U.S.C. 2102 ) is amended— in subsection (d), by striking

(2)or

(3)and inserting (4)(A) or

(5); and by adding at the end the following: If the plant closing or mass layoff involved is caused by conditions described in section 222(a)(2)(B) of the Trade Act of 1974 ( 19 U.S.C. 2272(a)(2)(B) ), then, in serving notice under subsection (a), the employer shall include in the notice a statement that the closing or layoff was so caused. Each State that receives a notice under subsection

(a)that includes a statement described in paragraph

(1)shall notify the Secretary of that receipt, immediately file a petition under subsection (a)(1) of section 221 of the Trade Act of 1974 ( 19 U.S.C. 2271 ) on behalf of that group of workers, and act as the petitioner for that petition under this chapter. If the Secretary receives a petition under paragraph

(2)regarding a plant closing or mass layoff affecting a group of workers, the Secretary shall— immediately initiate an investigation under subsection (a)(3) of that section 221; immediately waive the requirements for a hearing under subsection

(b)of that section 221; and unless the Secretary issues a determination that includes substantial evidence that the petition has not met the requirements of paragraph

(1)or (2)(B) of section 222(a) of the Trade Act of 1974 ( 19 U.S.C. 2272(a) ) within 20 days after receipt of the petition— certify the group of workers under section 222 of that Act ( 19 U.S.C. 2272 ); or be considered to have issued such certification on the 21st day after receipt of the petition. Even after the Secretary issues such a certification for a group of workers at a firm under paragraph (3)(C), the Secretary may conduct an investigation under subsection (a)(3) of that section 221 to identify additional groups of workers who may be eligible for benefits under this chapter. On certification of a group of workers as described in subsection (e)(3)(C), the Secretary, in conjunction with the State in which the site of employment involved is located, shall— endeavor to identify downstream producers and suppliers as defined in section 222(c) of the Trade Act of 1974 ( 19 U.S.C. 2272(c) ) that are potentially impacted by the plant closing or mass layoff involved; provide to such producers and suppliers— concerning benefits available under chapter 2 of title II of the Trade Act of 1974 ( 19 U.S.C. 2271 et seq.), a description of the benefits, of the means for filing a petition and applying for such benefits, and of the availability of assistance in filing the petition; and concerning benefits available under chapter 3 of that title ( 19 U.S.C. 2341 et seq.), the description specified in subparagraph (A); and direct the producers and suppliers to provide to their workers the description specified in paragraph (2)(A), concerning benefits described in paragraph (2)(A). Each State that receives 1 or more notices described in subsection (a)(2) during a calendar quarter shall, not later than 10 days after the end of the quarter, transmit the notices to the Secretary. . Section 5 of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act ( 29 U.S.C. 2014 ) is amended— by redesignating subsection

(b)as subsection (d); and by inserting after subsection

(a)the following: The Secretary may impose a fine on any employer who orders a plant closing or mass layoff in violation of section 3. The Secretary shall deposit the fines in an account. Funds in the account shall be available to States, without appropriation, for an activity authorized under subchapter B of chapter 2 of title II of the Trade Act of 1974 ( 19 U.S.C. 2291 et seq.). The Secretary shall establish and maintain a database, available to the public, of notices served under section 3(a). In carrying out paragraph (1), the Secretary shall ensure that all such notices are accessible and searchable by including in the database— a link to the notices, or files containing the notices in portable document format; and an interactive map and search tool that is capable of— sorting the notices, by date and region of the plant closings and mass layoffs described in the notices; and enabling the user to locate plant closings and mass layoffs of various sizes, in terms of numbers of employees affected. The Secretary shall ensure that the database includes, for each such notice, information on the political subdivision, county, and local area where the plant closing or mass layoff takes place, the number of affected workers, the date of the notice, the date of the beginning of the plant closing or mass layoff, and the North American Industry Classification System code for the affected industry. In this paragraph, the term local area has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act ( 29 U.S.C. 3102 ). . The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act is amended by inserting after section 10 ( 29 U.S.C. 2109 ) the following: The Secretary shall annually prepare, submit to Congress, and make available to the public, a report that specifies, for the year involved— the number of plant closings and mass layoffs that occurred, for which employers were subject to the notification requirements of section 3; and the number of such plant closings and mass layoffs for which employers met the requirements. . Sections 8(a) and 11 of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act ( 29 U.S.C. 2107(a) , 2101 note) are amended by striking of Labor . Section 223(a) of the Trade Act of 1974 ( 19 U.S.C. 2273(a) ) is amended by inserting (except as provided in section 3(e)(3)(C) of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act ( after 29 U.S.C. 2102(e)(3)(C) )) 40 days .

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