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 Notifica-
tion Act to support workers who are subject to an em-
ployment loss, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fair Warning Act of 
2019’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS; PROVISION OF NOTICE OF SITE CLOS-
INGS AND MASS LAYOFFS. 
(a) WARN ACT AMENDMENTS.—Sections 2 and 3 of 
the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act 
(29 U.S.C. 2101; 2102) are amended to read as follows: 
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‘‘SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS; EXCLUSIONS FROM DEFINITION OF 
LOSS OF EMPLOYMENT. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this Act: 
‘‘(1) AFFECTED
EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘af-
fected employee’ means a full-time or part-time em-
ployee who may reasonably be expected to experience 
an employment loss as a consequence of a proposed 
site closing or mass layoff by the employee’s em-
ployer. 
‘‘(2) EMPLOYER.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘employer’ 
means any business enterprise that— 
‘‘(i) employs 50 or more employees, 
including part-time employees and includ-
ing 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 
‘‘(ii) has an annual payroll of at least 
$2,000,000. 
‘‘(B) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of 
this paragraph: 
‘‘(i) INTEGRATED.—The term ‘inte-
grated’, when used with respect to a busi-
ness enterprise, means an entity whose re-
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lationship with another business enterprise 
include— 
‘‘(I) common ownership; 
‘‘(II) common directors or offi-
cers; 
‘‘(III) de facto exercise of con-
trol; 
‘‘(IV) unity of personnel policies 
emanating from a common source; or 
‘‘(V) dependency of operations. 
‘‘(ii) PARENT.—The term ‘parent’ 
means an entity, regardless of its financial 
interest in the nominal employer, that par-
ticipates 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 busi-
ness purpose. 
‘‘(iii) 
CONSIDERATION.—In 
deter-
mining whether an entity is integrated 
with or a direct or indirect parent of a 
business enterprise that is the nominal em-
ployer, substantial weight shall be given to 
any decision-making responsibility the enti-
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ty had for the practice that gave rise to 
the violation of this Act. 
‘‘(3) EMPLOYMENT
LOSS.—Subject to sub-
section (b), the term ‘employment loss’ means— 
‘‘(A) an employment termination, other 
than a discharge for cause, voluntary departure, 
or retirement; 
‘‘(B) a layoff exceeding 3 months; or 
‘‘(C) a reduction in hours of work of more 
than 50 percent during each month of any 3- 
month period. 
‘‘(4) MASS LAYOFF.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘mass lay-
off’ means a reduction in force that results in 
an employment loss during any 90-day period— 
‘‘(i) for 10 or more employees of an 
employer at a single site of employment, as 
calculated under subparagraph (B); or 
‘‘(ii) for 250 or more employees of an 
employer, irrespective of employment site. 
‘‘(B) CALCULATION.—The number of em-
ployees at a single site who suffer an employ-
ment loss shall be calculated in a manner that 
includes— 
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‘‘(i) all such employees who work at 
the physical location of the site; and 
‘‘(ii) all such employees who work re-
motely and— 
‘‘(I) are assigned to or otherwise 
associated with the site; 
‘‘(II) 
receive 
assignments 
or 
training from the site; 
‘‘(III) report to a manager asso-
ciated with the site; or 
‘‘(IV) whose job loss was a fore-
seeable consequence of a reduction in 
force at the site. 
‘‘(5) REPRESENTATIVE.—The term ‘representa-
tive’ means an exclusive representative of employees 
within the meaning of section 8(f) or 9(a) of the Na-
tional Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158(f); 
159(a)) or section 2 of the Railway Labor Act (45 
U.S.C. 152). 
‘‘(6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 
the Secretary of Labor. 
‘‘(7) SITE
CLOSING.—The term ‘site 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 employ-
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ment, that results in an employment loss at the sin-
gle site of employment during any 30-day period for 
5 or more employees, calculated in the same manner 
as described in paragraph (4)(B). 
‘‘(8) UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 
‘unit of local government’ means any general pur-
pose political subdivision of a State which has the 
power to levy taxes and spend funds, as well as gen-
eral corporate and police powers. 
‘‘(b) EXCLUSIONS FROM EMPLOYMENT LOSS DUE 
TO A SITE CLOSING OR MASS LAYOFF.—An employee 
shall not be considered to have experienced an employment 
loss due to a site closing or mass layoff if the site closing 
or mass layoff is the result of the relocation or consolida-
tion of part or all of the employer’s business and, prior 
to the site closing or mass layoff— 
‘‘(1) the employer offers to transfer the em-
ployee to a different site of employment within a 
reasonable commuting distance with no more than a 
3-month break in employment; or 
‘‘(2) the employer offers to transfer the em-
ployee to any other site of employment regardless of 
distance with no more than a 3-month break in em-
ployment, and the employee accepts within 30 days 
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of the offer or of the site closing or mass layoff, 
whichever is later. 
‘‘SEC. 3. NOTICE REQUIRED BEFORE SITE CLOSINGS AND 
MASS LAYOFFS. 
‘‘(a) NOTICE TO EMPLOYEES, STATE DISLOCATED 
WORKER UNITS, AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.—An em-
ployer shall not order a site closing or mass layoff until 
90 calendar days after the date on which the employer 
has served written notice of such an order to— 
‘‘(1)(A) each representative of the affected em-
ployees as of the time of the notice; or 
‘‘(B) each affected employee; 
‘‘(2) the Secretary and the Governor of the 
State where the site closing or mass layoff is to 
occur; and 
‘‘(3) the State or entity designated by the State 
to carry out rapid response activities under section 
134(a)(2)(A) of the Workforce Innovation and Op-
portunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3174(a)(2)(A)). 
‘‘(b) DUTIES UPON RECEIPT OF NOTICE.—A State 
or designated entity that receives a notice under sub-
section (a)(3) shall— 
‘‘(1) make the information in the notice publicly 
available within the jurisdiction of the local govern-
ment involved; 
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‘‘(2) transmit a copy of the notice to each af-
fected local area (as defined in section 3 of the 
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 
U.S.C. 3102)), so that the information in the notice 
can be distributed through activities under section 
134(c)(2)(A)(iv)(I)(aa) of that Act (29 U.S.C. 
3174(c)(2)(A)(iv)(I)(aa)); and 
‘‘(3) ensure that— 
‘‘(A) an appropriate labor-management 
committee described in section 3(51)(C) of the 
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 
U.S.C. 3102(51)(C)) has been established or is 
established not later than 20 days after receipt 
of the notice; and 
‘‘(B) an individual is designated, by not 
later than 20 days after receipt of such notice, 
to coordinate rapid response activities described 
in section 134(a)(2)(A)(i) of such Act, in con-
sultation with the labor-management com-
mittee. 
‘‘(c) REDUCTION OF NOTIFICATION PERIOD.— 
‘‘(1) POTENTIAL NEW BUSINESS OR FINANC-
ING.—An employer may order the site closing of a 
single site of employment before the conclusion of 
the 90-day period described in subsection (a) if— 
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