II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1792 

To amend the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act to improve 

such Act. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 16, 2007 

Mr. BROWN (for himself, Mr. OBAMA, and Mrs. CLINTON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Worker Adjustment and Retraining 

Notification Act to improve such Act. 

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 ‘‘FOREWARN Act of 

5 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE WORKER ADJUSTMENT AND 

7 RETRAINING ACT. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2(a) of the Worker Ad9 justment and Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 

10 2101(a)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

2 (A) by striking ‘‘100’’ each place that such 

3 appears and inserting ‘‘50’’; and 

4 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

5 ‘‘4,000’’ and inserting ‘‘2,000’’; 

6 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘50’’ and in7 serting ‘‘25’’; and 

8 (3) in paragraph (3)(B)(ii), by striking ‘‘500’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘100’’. 

10 (b) NOTICE REQUIRED.—Section 3 of the Worker 

11 Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 

12 2102) is amended— 

13 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘60-day’’ and 

14 inserting ‘‘90-day’’; 

15 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘60-day’’ each 

16 place that such appears and inserting ‘‘90-day’’; and 

17 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(e) CALENDAR DAYS.—All references in this Act to 

19 ‘days’ shall be deemed to mean calendar days.’’. 

20 (c) NOTICE TO OTHER PARTIES AND SECRETARY OF

21 LABOR.—Section 3(a) of the Worker Adjustment and Re22 training Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2102(a)) is amended 

23 by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(e) NOTICE TO THE SECRETARY.—Not later than 

25 60 days after a plant closing or mass layoff, the employer 


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1 involved shall submit to the Secretary of Labor a notifica2 tion of the closing or layoff and the number of employees 

3 involved.’’. 

4 (d) PENALTY.—Section 5 of the Worker Adjustment 

5 and Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2104) is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘back 

8 pay’’ and inserting ‘‘double the back pay’’; 

9 (2) in the flush matter following subparagraph 

10 (B), by striking ‘‘60 days’’ and inserting ‘‘90 days’’; 

11 and 

12 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(c) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OF LABOR.—A civil 

14 action may be brought by the Secretary of Labor (or the 

15 appropriate State attorney general if the Secretary fails 

16 to act within 6 months of the alleged violation) on behalf 

17 of one or more employees for relief under this section. The 

18 right provided by this section to bring an action by or on 

19 behalf of any employee, and the right of any employee to 

20 become a party plaintiff to any such action, shall termi21 nate upon the filing of an action by the Secretary of Labor 

22 under this subsection.’’. 

23 (e) EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS.—The Worker Adjust24 ment and Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2101 et 

25 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 11. EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS. 

2 ‘‘The Secretary of Labor shall make educational ma3 terials concerning employee rights and employer respon4 sibilities under this Act available to the general public and 

5 employers. Such materials shall be available on the Inter6 net website of the Secretary and in written form for dis7 tribution by employers.’’. 

Æ 


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