TAG

Workforce reduction

Layoffs, notice statutes, and separation mechanics.

EMP-01 · 01

The WARN Act and State Mini-WARN Laws in Workforce Reductions

8 MIN · EMP

Whether a reduction triggers advance-notice duties is an arithmetic question answered before any strategy question. This brief works the counting rules, the notice mechanics, and the state overlays.

Federal WARN, 29 U.S.C. § 2101 et seq., reaches employers with 100 or more employees and generally requires 60 days advance written notice.
A plant closing needs 50 or more employment losses at a single site; a mass layoff needs 500, or 50-499 at 33 percent of the workforce.
Employment losses over any 90-day period are aggregated, so two small reductions can combine into one covered event.

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EMP-04 · 02

Conducting a Workplace Investigation: Scope, Interviews, Records, and Fairness

8 MIN · EMP

A workplace investigation is judged later on how it was run, not on how it felt at the time. This brief sets out scope, interview discipline, confidentiality limits, and the file that survives review.

Employer harassment defenses turn on whether the response was prompt, thorough, and impartial — the standard EEOC guidance and courts both use.
Separate the fact-finder from the decision-maker. One person finds what happened; another decides discipline. The file reads far better afterward.
Blanket confidentiality instructions carry labor-law risk. Board precedent on investigation-confidentiality rules shifted in 2019 and again in 2023.

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EMP-10 · 03

Joint Employer Liability: Staffing, Franchising, and Shared Control

9 MIN · EMP

Joint employment is not one test. Each statute asks its own question, and a company can be a joint employer for wage purposes and not for bargaining purposes on identical facts. This brief separates the regimes.

Joint employment is analysed differently under the FLSA, the NLRA, and Title VII, so one set of facts can produce different answers under each.
Under the FLSA, joint employers are jointly and severally liable for minimum wage and overtime, and hours worked for both are aggregated.
The NLRB's joint-employer standard has changed repeatedly with Board composition and litigation; as of mid-2026 the 2020 regulation remains operative after the 2023 rule was vacated.

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