I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5205 

To amend the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act to support 

workers who are subject to an employment loss, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 20, 2019 

Mr. RYAN (for himself and Mr. TRONE) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act to support workers who are subject to an employment loss, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fair Warning Act of 

5 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS; PROVISION OF NOTICE OF SITE CLOS7 INGS AND MASS LAYOFFS. 

8 (a) WARN ACT AMENDMENTS.—Sections 2 and 3 of 

9 the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act 

10 (29 U.S.C. 2101; 2102) are amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS; EXCLUSIONS FROM DEFINITION OF 

2 LOSS OF EMPLOYMENT. 

3 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this Act: 

4 ‘‘(1) AFFECTED EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘af5 fected employee’ means a full-time or part-time em6 ployee who may reasonably be expected to experience 

7 an employment loss as a consequence of a proposed 

8 site closing or mass layoff by the employee’s em9 ployer. 

10 ‘‘(2) EMPLOYER.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘employer’ 

12 means any business enterprise that— 

13 ‘‘(i) employs 50 or more employees, 

14 including part-time employees and includ15 ing employees of the nominal employer and 

16 any entity that is the nominal employer’s 

17 direct or indirect parent or is integrated 

18 with the nominal employer; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) has an annual payroll of at least 

20 $2,000,000. 

21 ‘‘(B) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of 

22 this paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(i) INTEGRATED.—The term ‘inte24 grated’, when used with respect to a busi25 ness enterprise, means an entity whose reVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 Nov 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5205.IH H5205

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1 lationship with another business enterprise 

2 include— 

3 ‘‘(I) common ownership; 

4 ‘‘(II) common directors or offi5 cers; 

6 ‘‘(III) de facto exercise of con7 trol; 

8 ‘‘(IV) unity of personnel policies 

9 emanating from a common source; or 

10 ‘‘(V) dependency of operations. 

11 ‘‘(ii) PARENT.—The term ‘parent’ 

12 means an entity, regardless of its financial 

13 interest in the nominal employer, that par14 ticipates directly or indirectly in making 

15 decisions that affect the employees of the 

16 nominal employer or of multiple entities 

17 controlled by 1 person for a common busi18 ness purpose. 

19 ‘‘(iii) CONSIDERATION.—In deter20 mining whether an entity is integrated 

21 with or a direct or indirect parent of a 

22 business enterprise that is the nominal em23 ployer, substantial weight shall be given to 

24 any decision-making responsibility the entiVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 Nov 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5205.IH H5205

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1 ty had for the practice that gave rise to 

2 the violation of this Act. 

3 ‘‘(3) EMPLOYMENT LOSS.—Subject to sub4 section (b), the term ‘employment loss’ means— 

5 ‘‘(A) an employment termination, other 

6 than a discharge for cause, voluntary departure, 

7 or retirement; 

8 ‘‘(B) a layoff exceeding 3 months; or 

9 ‘‘(C) a reduction in hours of work of more 

10 than 50 percent during each month of any 3- 

11 month period. 

12 ‘‘(4) MASS LAYOFF.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘mass lay14 off’ means a reduction in force that results in 

15 an employment loss during any 90-day period— 

16 ‘‘(i) for 10 or more employees of an 

17 employer at a single site of employment, as 

18 calculated under subparagraph (B); or 

19 ‘‘(ii) for 250 or more employees of an 

20 employer, irrespective of employment site. 

21 ‘‘(B) CALCULATION.—The number of em22 ployees at a single site who suffer an employ23 ment loss shall be calculated in a manner that 

24 includes— 


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1 ‘‘(i) all such employees who work at 

2 the physical location of the site; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) all such employees who work re4 motely and— 

5 ‘‘(I) are assigned to or otherwise 

6 associated with the site; 

7 ‘‘(II) receive assignments or 

8 training from the site; 

9 ‘‘(III) report to a manager asso10 ciated with the site; or 

11 ‘‘(IV) whose job loss was a fore12 seeable consequence of a reduction in 

13 force at the site. 

14 ‘‘(5) REPRESENTATIVE.—The term ‘representa15 tive’ means an exclusive representative of employees 

16 within the meaning of section 8(f) or 9(a) of the Na17 tional Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158(f); 

18 159(a)) or section 2 of the Railway Labor Act (45 

19 U.S.C. 152). 

20 ‘‘(6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

21 the Secretary of Labor. 

22 ‘‘(7) SITE CLOSING.—The term ‘site closing’ 

23 means the permanent or temporary shutdown of a 

24 single site of employment, or one or more facilities 

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1 ment, that results in an employment loss at the sin2 gle site of employment during any 30-day period for 

3 5 or more employees, calculated in the same manner 

4 as described in paragraph (4)(B). 

5 ‘‘(8) UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 

6 ‘unit of local government’ means any general pur7 pose political subdivision of a State which has the 

8 power to levy taxes and spend funds, as well as gen9 eral corporate and police powers. 

10 ‘‘(b) EXCLUSIONS FROM EMPLOYMENT LOSS DUE

11 TO A SITE CLOSING OR MASS LAYOFF.—An employee 

12 shall not be considered to have experienced an employment 

13 loss due to a site closing or mass layoff if the site closing 

14 or mass layoff is the result of the relocation or consolida15 tion of part or all of the employer’s business and, prior 

16 to the site closing or mass layoff— 

17 ‘‘(1) the employer offers to transfer the em18 ployee to a different site of employment within a 

19 reasonable commuting distance with no more than a 

20 3-month break in employment; or 

21 ‘‘(2) the employer offers to transfer the em22 ployee to any other site of employment regardless of 

23 distance with no more than a 3-month break in em24 ployment, and the employee accepts within 30 days 


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1 of the offer or of the site closing or mass layoff, 

2 whichever is later. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 3. NOTICE REQUIRED BEFORE SITE CLOSINGS AND 

4 MASS LAYOFFS. 

5 ‘‘(a) NOTICE TO EMPLOYEES, STATE DISLOCATED

6 WORKER UNITS, AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.—An em7 ployer shall not order a site closing or mass layoff until 

8 90 calendar days after the date on which the employer 

9 has served written notice of such an order to— 

10 ‘‘(1)(A) each representative of the affected em11 ployees as of the time of the notice; or 

12 ‘‘(B) each affected employee; 

13 ‘‘(2) the Secretary and the Governor of the 

14 State where the site closing or mass layoff is to 

15 occur; and 

16 ‘‘(3) the State or entity designated by the State 

17 to carry out rapid response activities under section 

18 134(a)(2)(A) of the Workforce Innovation and Op19 portunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3174(a)(2)(A)). 

20 ‘‘(b) DUTIES UPON RECEIPT OF NOTICE.—A State 

21 or designated entity that receives a notice under sub22 section (a)(3) shall— 

23 ‘‘(1) make the information in the notice publicly 

24 available within the jurisdiction of the local govern25 ment involved; 


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1 ‘‘(2) transmit a copy of the notice to each af2 fected local area (as defined in section 3 of the 

3 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 

4 U.S.C. 3102)), so that the information in the notice 

5 can be distributed through activities under section 

6 134(c)(2)(A)(iv)(I)(aa) of that Act (29 U.S.C. 

7 3174(c)(2)(A)(iv)(I)(aa)); and 

8 ‘‘(3) ensure that— 

9 ‘‘(A) an appropriate labor-management 

10 committee described in section 3(51)(C) of the 

11 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 

12 U.S.C. 3102(51)(C)) has been established or is 

13 established not later than 20 days after receipt 

14 of the notice; and 

15 ‘‘(B) an individual is designated, by not 

16 later than 20 days after receipt of such notice, 

17 to coordinate rapid response activities described 

18 in section 134(a)(2)(A)(i) of such Act, in con19 sultation with the labor-management com20 mittee. 

21 ‘‘(c) REDUCTION OF NOTIFICATION PERIOD.— 

22 ‘‘(1) POTENTIAL NEW BUSINESS OR FINANC23 ING.—An employer may order the site closing of a 

24 single site of employment before the conclusion of 

25 the 90-day period described in subsection (a) if— 


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1 ‘‘(A) as of the date that notice would have 

2 been required the employer had been offered, on 

3 acceptable terms, new business or financing in 

4 an amount which, if obtained, would have en5 abled the employer to avoid the site closing; and 

6 ‘‘(B) the employer can demonstrate that, 

7 had notice been given, the notice would have 

8 precluded the new business or financing. 

9 ‘‘(2) UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES.— 

10 ‘‘(A) NATURAL DISASTERS.—No notice 

11 under this Act shall be required if the site clos12 ing or mass layoff is due to any form of natural 

13 disaster, such as a flood, earthquake, or a 

14 drought ravaging the farmlands of the United 

15 States. 

16 ‘‘(B) TERRORIST ATTACKS.—No notice 

17 under this Act shall be required if the site clos18 ing or mass layoff is due directly to a terrorist 

19 attack that affects the operation of the site. 

20 ‘‘(3) PROVISION OF NOTICE.—An employer re21 lying on this subsection shall give as much notice as 

22 is practicable and at that time shall give a brief 

23 statement of the basis for reducing the notification 

24 period. 


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1 ‘‘(d) EXTENSION OF TEMPORARY LAYOFF.—A tem2 porary layoff of more than 3 months that, at its outset, 

3 was announced to be a temporary layoff of 3 months or 

4 less, shall be treated as an employment loss under this 

5 Act unless— 

6 ‘‘(1) a written notice, as required under sub7 section (a), is provided at the commencement of the 

8 temporary layoff stating the date on which the em9 ployer expects to recall the employees to work, and 

10 such date is less than 3 months after the date of the 

11 layoff; and 

12 ‘‘(2) notice is given to all parties described in 

13 subsection (a) at the time it becomes reasonable to 

14 contemplate that the temporary layoff will be ex15 tended beyond the 90-day period. 

16 ‘‘(e) DETERMINATIONS WITH RESPECT TO EMPLOY17 MENT LOSS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) MULTIPLE GROUPS.—For purposes of this 

19 section, in determining whether a site closing or 

20 mass layoff at a single site of employment has oc21 curred or will occur, employment losses for 2 or 

22 more groups at the single site of employment, each 

23 of which is less than the minimum number of em24 ployees specified in paragraph (4) or (7) of section 

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1 imum number, and which occur within any 90-day 

2 period, shall be considered to be a site closing or 

3 mass layoff unless the employer demonstrates that 

4 the employment losses are the result of separate and 

5 distinct actions and causes and are not an attempt 

6 by the employer to evade the requirements of this 

7 Act. 

8 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF BUSINESS SALES.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a sale 

10 of part or all of an employer’s business, the 

11 seller shall be responsible for providing notice 

12 for any site closing or mass layoff in accordance 

13 with this section up to and including the effec14 tive date of the sale. After the effective date of 

15 the sale of part or all of an employer’s business, 

16 the purchaser shall be responsible for providing 

17 notice for any site closing or mass layoff in ac18 cordance with this section. 

19 ‘‘(B) TRANSFER OF EMPLOYEES.—In the 

20 case of a sale of part or all of an employer’s 

21 business, and notwithstanding any other provi22 sion of this Act, any person who is an employee 

23 of the seller as of the effective date of the sale 

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1 chaser immediately after the effective date of 

2 the sale. 

3 ‘‘(f) CONTENT OF NOTICES.—An employer who is re4 quired to provide notice as required under subsection (a) 

5 shall include— 

6 ‘‘(1) in each notice required under such sub7 section— 

8 ‘‘(A) a statement of the number of affected 

9 employees; 

10 ‘‘(B) the reason for the site closing or 

11 mass layoff; 

12 ‘‘(C) whether the layoff is permanent or 

13 temporary and, if temporary, the date on which 

14 the employer expects to recall the affected em15 ployees to work; 

16 ‘‘(D) the availability of employment at 

17 other establishments owned by the employer; 

18 ‘‘(E) a statement of each employee’s rights 

19 with respect to wages and severance and em20 ployee benefits; and 

21 ‘‘(F) a statement of the available employ22 ment and training services provided by the De23 partment of Labor; and 

24 ‘‘(2) in each notice required under such sub25 section (except for paragraph (1)(B) of such subVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 Nov 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5205.IH H5205

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1 section), the names, addresses, and occupations of 

2 the affected employees. 

3 ‘‘(g) INFORMATION REGARDING BENEFITS AND

4 SERVICES AVAILABLE TO EMPLOYEES.—Concurrent with 

5 or immediately after providing the notice required under 

6 subsection (a)(1), an employer shall provide affected em7 ployees with information regarding the benefits and serv8 ices available to such employees, as described in the guide 

9 compiled by the Secretary under section 13. 

10 ‘‘(h) ACCESS OF RAPID RESPONSE TEAMS.—An em11 ployer who is required to provide notice under subsection 

12 (a) shall permit, during work hours, reasonable on-site ac13 cess to any Federal, State, or local rapid response team 

14 under section 134(a)(2)(A) of the Workforce Innovation 

15 and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3174(a)(2)(A)) respon16 sible for providing reemployment, training services, and 

17 related services to affected employees. 

18 ‘‘(i) DOL NOTICE TO CONGRESS.—As soon as prac19 ticable and not later than 15 days after receiving notice 

20 under subsection (a)(2), the Secretary of Labor shall no21 tify the appropriate Senators and Members of the House 

22 of Representatives who represent the area or areas where 

23 the site closing or mass layoff is to occur.’’. 

24 (b) WIOA AMENDMENT REGARDING THE PROVISION

25 INFORMATION THROUGH LOCAL EMPLOYMENT AND


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1 TRAINING ACTIVITIES.—Section 134(c)(2)(A)(iv)(I)(aa) 

2 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 

3 U.S.C. 3174(c)(2)(A)(iv)(I)(aa)) is amended by inserting 

4 before the semicolon the following: ‘‘ and of information 

5 in notices described in section 3(a), and of access to the 

6 database established under section 5(e), of the Worker Ad7 justment and Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 

8 2102(a); 2104(e))’’. 

9 SEC. 3. EXEMPTIONS. 

10 Section 4 of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining 

11 Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2103) is amended to read as 

12 follows: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 4. EXEMPTIONS. 

14 ‘‘This Act shall not apply to a plant closing or mass 

15 layoff if the closing is of a temporary facility or the closing 

16 or layoff is the result of the completion of a particular 

17 project or undertaking, and the affected employees were 

18 hired with the understanding that their employment was 

19 limited to the duration of the facility or the project or un20 dertaking.’’. 

21 SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF RE22 QUIREMENTS. 

23 Section 5 of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining 

24 Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2104) is amended— 

25 (1) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

2 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

3 (I) in the matter preceding clause 

4 (i), by striking ‘‘each day’’ and insert5 ing ‘‘each calendar day’’; and 

6 (II) in clause (ii), by striking 

7 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

8 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

9 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

10 and’’; 

11 (iii) by inserting after subparagraph 

12 (B) the following: 

13 ‘‘(C) liquidated damages in an amount equal to 

14 30 days of back pay, at the rate of compensation 

15 calculated under subparagraph (A).’’; and 

16 (iv) in the flush text following sub17 paragraph (C) (as added by clause (iii)), 

18 by striking ‘‘60 days’’ and inserting ‘‘90 

19 days’’; 

20 (B) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting ‘‘, 

21 which begins on the date of the employment 

22 loss’’ after ‘‘the violation’’; 

23 (C) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘the 

24 Secretary, a State, or’’ before ‘‘a unit of local 

25 government’’; 


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1 (D) in paragraph (4)— 

2 (i) by striking ‘‘which has violated 

3 this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘that has violated 

4 the provisions of section 3 with respect to 

5 the Secretary, a State, or a local govern6 ment’’; and 

7 (ii) by striking ‘‘reduce the amount of 

8 the liability or penalty provided for in this 

9 section’’ and inserting ‘‘reduce the amount 

10 of the penalty under paragraph (3)’’; 

11 (E) by striking paragraph (5) and insert12 ing the following: 

13 ‘‘(5) A person (including a representative of 

14 employees or a unit of local government aggrieved 

15 under paragraph (1) or (3)) seeking to enforce the 

16 liability provided for in this section, may, either for 

17 such person, for other persons similarly situated, or 

18 for both, bring suit in any district court of the 

19 United States for any district in which the violation 

20 is alleged to have occurred or in which the employer 

21 transacts business.’’; and 

22 (F) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘pre23 vailing party’’ and inserting ‘‘prevailing plain24 tiff’’; 


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1 (2) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub2 section (c); 

3 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.—An action shall be brought 

6 under this section not later than 4 years after the date 

7 of the last event constituting the alleged violation for 

8 which the action is brought.’’; 

9 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(d) EXEMPTION FROM LIQUIDATED DAMAGES.— 

11 Notwithstanding subsection (a)(1)(C), an employer is not 

12 liable for the liquidated damages described in such sub13 section if— 

14 ‘‘(1) the employee alleges a site closing and— 

15 ‘‘(A) the employer can establish that cir16 cumstances described in section 3(c)(1) existed 

17 on the 60th and 30th days before the site clos18 ing; or 

19 ‘‘(B) the site closing is due to any form of 

20 natural disaster or directly due to a terrorist at21 tack; or 

22 ‘‘(2) the alleged site closing or mass layoff is 

23 caused by business circumstances (other than a fin24 ancier’s decision) that were not contemplated nor 


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1 should reasonably have been contemplated as of the 

2 30th day before the site closing or mass layoff. 

3 ‘‘(e) DATABASE.— 

4 ‘‘(1) TRANSMITTALS.—A State or designated 

5 entity that receives a notice under section 3(a) shall 

6 transmit a copy of the notice to the Secretary. 

7 ‘‘(2) DATABASE.—The Secretary shall create 

8 and maintain a publicly available database that pro9 vides information from notices transmitted under 

10 paragraph (1). 

11 ‘‘(3) CONTENTS OF DATABASE.—The database 

12 under paragraph (2) shall include— 

13 ‘‘(A) for each notice transmitted under 

14 paragraph (1), a copy of the notice, the date of 

15 the notice, the name of the employer involved, 

16 the unit of local government affected by the 

17 closing or layoff involved, the number of em18 ployees so affected, the sector in which the lay19 off occurred (as identified by the North Amer20 ican Industry Classification System code), and 

21 the type of the closing or layoff; 

22 ‘‘(B) a search function that allows users to 

23 identify the geographic, annual, and sectoral 

24 breakdown of the notices; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) a function that allows the data to be 

2 downloaded in a user-friendly format. 

3 ‘‘(4) ACCESS THROUGH WEBSITE.—The Sec4 retary shall provide a link to the database through 

5 the internet website of the Department of Labor.’’. 

6 SEC. 5. POSTING OF NOTICES. 

7 Section 11 of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining 

8 Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2101 note) is amended to read 

9 as follows: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 11. POSTING OF NOTICES. 

11 ‘‘(a) POSTING OF NOTICES.—Each employer shall 

12 post and keep posted, in conspicuous places upon its prem13 ises where notices to employees are customarily posted, a 

14 notice to be prepared or approved by the Secretary setting 

15 forth excerpts from, or summaries of, the pertinent provi16 sions of this Act and information pertinent to the filing 

17 of a complaint under this Act. 

18 ‘‘(b) PENALTIES.—The Secretary may impose a civil 

19 penalty on any person who willfully violates this section 

20 of not more than $500 for each separate offense.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. NON-WAIVER OF RIGHTS AND REMEDIES; INFORMA2 TION REGARDING BENEFITS AND SERVICES 

3 AVAILABLE TO EMPLOYEES. 

4 The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification 

5 Act (29 U.S.C. 2101 et seq.) is further amended by adding 

6 at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 12. RIGHTS AND REMEDIES NOT SUBJECT TO WAIV8 ER. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The rights and remedies pro10 vided under this Act (including the right to file or partici11 pate in a class action under rule 23 of the Federal Rules 

12 of Civil Procedure in Federal court) are substantive and 

13 may not be waived, deferred, or lost pursuant to any 

14 agreement or settlement other than an agreement or set15 tlement described in subsection (b). 

16 ‘‘(b) AGREEMENT OR SETTLEMENT.—An agreement 

17 or settlement referred to in subsection (a) is an agreement 

18 or settlement negotiated by— 

19 ‘‘(1) a private attorney on behalf of affected 

20 employees; or 

21 ‘‘(2) a designated representative of affected em22 ployees under the National Labor Relations Act (29 

23 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) or the Railway Labor Act (45 

24 U.S.C. 151 et seq.). 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 13. INFORMATION REGARDING BENEFITS AND SERV2 ICES AVAILABLE TO WORKERS. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor shall 

4 maintain a guide of benefits and services that may be 

5 available to affected employees, including unemployment 

6 compensation, trade adjustment assistance, COBRA con7 tinuation coverage, and early access to training services 

8 and other services, including counseling services, available 

9 under title I of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 

10 Act (29 U.S.C. 3111 et seq.). 

11 ‘‘(b) AVAILABILITY OF GUIDE.—The guide main12 tained under subsection (a) shall be available on the inter13 net website of the Department of Labor and shall include 

14 a description of the benefits and services, the eligibility 

15 requirements, and the means of obtaining such benefits 

16 and services. 

17 ‘‘(c) TRANSMISSION TO EMPLOYERS.—Upon receiv18 ing notice from an employer under section 3(a)(2), the 

19 Secretary shall immediately transmit such guide to such 

20 employer.’’. 

Æ 


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