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Business Closing and Mass Layoff Notification Requirements 

Who must provide notice and when? With certain exceptions, businesses employing 50 or more persons in the State of Wisconsin must provide written notice 60 days before implementing a "business closing" or "mass layoff". The federal or state government (and their political subdivisions), charitable, or tax exempt institutions and organizations and independent contractors are not covered under this law and do not have to provide notice. Additional exceptions exist in various situations involving strikes or lockouts, sales, relocations, temporary or seasonal employment, unforeseeable circumstances, natural or man-made disasters, temporary cessation in operations or businesses in financial trouble.

Applies When:

STATE LAW

Wisconsin Statutes Sec. 109.07 & Chapter IND 79

FEDERAL LAW

WARN Act Sec. 2(a)(3)

Employer size is:

50 or more employees

100 or more employees

Closing Affects:

25 or more employees

50 or more employees

Mass Layoff Affects:

25% of workforce and 25 or more employees or 500 employees

33% of workforce and 50 or more employees or 500 employees

Who must be notified?
Wisconsin law requires the following groups must be notified: employee representatives, affected employees, the chief elected official of the unit of local government in which the dislocation occurs and the Wisconsin Dislocated Worker Unit.

Employees are entitled to receive notice if they are counted as part of a "business closing" or "mass layoff". Employees are counted if their employment is terminated (not including discharges for cause, voluntary departures or retirements), if they are laid off for more than 6 months, or if their hours are reduced more than 50% during each month of any 6 month period. New or low-hour employees (who have been employed for fewer than 6 of the 12 months preceding the date on which notice is required or who average fewer than 20 hours of work per week) are not counted.

How do I contact the Wisconsin Dislocated Worker Unit?
Dislocated Worker Unit
Department of Workforce Development
Room E-100
201 East Washington Avenue
Madison, WI 53707
Phone (608)266-7406
Fax (608)267-2392 (Return to Layoffs Help)