The federal WARN Act requires covered employers to give 60 days of written notice before a plant closing or mass layoff. If notice is missing or short, each affected worker can recover back pay and benefits for every day of the violation, up to 60 days, minus what the employer already paid for that period. This WARN Act calculator applies the formula in 29 U.S.C. 2104, counts the days both ways that federal courts have used (work days and calendar days), and runs a quick check of the coverage thresholds.
An employer that orders a plant closing or mass layoff without the required notice "shall be liable to each aggrieved employee who suffers an employment loss" for two things (29 U.S.C. 2104(a)(1)):
The liability is figured "for the period of the violation, up to a maximum of 60 days, but in no event for more than one-half the number of days the employee was employed by the employer." If you got 20 days of notice instead of 60, the violation period is 40 days. If you worked there only 47 days, half of that is 23.5 days, and the calculator counts 23 whole days.
The statute then subtracts three kinds of payments: wages the employer paid you for the violation period, "any voluntary and unconditional payment by the employer to the employee that is not required by any legal obligation," and payments the employer made to a third party on your behalf for that period, such as health premiums. The calculator takes these three amounts off the total.
The statute says "each day of violation" without saying which days. Federal appeals courts have split:
| Court | Decision | Days counted |
|---|---|---|
| Third Circuit | United Steelworkers v. North Star Steel Co., 5 F.3d 39 (1993) | Calendar days |
| Fifth Circuit | Carpenters District Council v. Dillard Dept. Stores, 15 F.3d 1275 (1994) | Work days |
| Sixth Circuit | Saxion v. Titan-C Manufacturing, 86 F.3d 553 (1996) | Work days |
| Tenth Circuit | Frymire v. Ampex Corp., 61 F.3d 757 (1995) | Work days |
| Eighth Circuit | Breedlove v. Earthgrains Baking Cos., 140 F.3d 797 (1998) | Work days |
In North Star Steel, the trial court read the statute "to require that defendant pay damages for each calendar day within the violation period," and the Third Circuit affirmed. In 1998 the Eighth Circuit wrote that "the majority of circuit courts have held working days to be the proper basis for the calculation" and held the same, reasoning that Congress did not mean to pay laid-off workers more than they would have earned with notice. The Sixth and Tenth Circuit rows come from the Eighth Circuit's list. The calculator shows both results so you can see the range. For a Monday to Friday worker, a 60-day period holds 42 to 44 workdays, depending on the weekday it starts.
Three thresholds from 29 U.S.C. 2101(a) decide coverage:
An "employment loss" is a termination other than a discharge for cause, a voluntary departure or a retirement; a layoff longer than 6 months; or a cut of more than 50 percent in hours during each month of a 6-month period. Smaller layoffs at one site within any 90-day period are added together unless the employer shows they had separate causes (29 U.S.C. 2102(d)).
Section 2102(b) lets an employer give less than 60 days in three situations: a faltering company that was actively seeking capital or business and believed in good faith that notice would have stopped it (plant closings only), business circumstances that "were not reasonably foreseeable as of the time that notice would have been required," and a natural disaster such as a flood or earthquake, where no notice is required. An employer using an exception must still give "as much notice as is practicable" with a brief statement of why notice was cut short. If an exception applies, the violation period shrinks or disappears, and the calculator cannot decide that for you.
A warehouse worker earns $25 an hour for 8-hour shifts, Monday to Friday, and the employer pays $600 a month toward her health plan. The site closes and her last day is Friday, September 4, 2026, with no written notice.
If she had received notice on August 15, 2026, 20 days ahead, the period would be 40 days (through October 14) and the estimate $6,389.04 to $8,789.04. If the employer had paid her $2,000 in wages for the period, both no-notice figures would drop by $2,000. Had she been hired on July 20, 2026, her 47 days of employment would cap the period at 23 days.
Some states have their own notice laws on top of the federal one. New York requires written notice at least ninety days before a mass layoff, relocation or employment loss takes effect (N.Y. Labor Law 860-b). California requires 60 days of notice from a covered establishment, defined as a facility that employs, or employed in the last 12 months, 75 or more persons (Labor Code 1400.5 and 1401). A state law can apply even when the federal thresholds are not met, so check the rules where you worked.
For unpaid wages owed at separation in California, see the California waiting time penalty calculator. For other job loss claims, try the wrongful termination settlement calculator.
Multiply your daily rate, based on the higher of your average regular rate over your last 3 years or your final regular rate, by each day of violation. The period is 60 days minus the days of notice you received, and never more than half the days you were employed. Add the benefits you lost, then subtract wages the employer paid for that period, voluntary unconditional payments and plan payments it made for you.
Courts disagree. The Third Circuit counted calendar days in United Steelworkers v. North Star Steel (1993). The Fifth, Sixth, Tenth and Eighth Circuits counted work days, and the Eighth Circuit called that the majority view in 1998. The calculator shows both results.
Wages the employer pays you for the violation period are subtracted from what it owes, along with voluntary unconditional payments and plan payments made for you. If those payments cover the full back pay and benefits, nothing may be left to recover.
Employers with 100 or more employees, not counting part-time workers, or 100 or more who together work at least 4,000 hours a week. It covers a plant closing that costs 50 or more full-time workers their jobs at one site within 30 days, and a mass layoff of at least 50 full-time workers who make up at least 33 percent of the site, or at least 500 full-time workers.
The WARN Act has no filing deadline of its own. In North Star Steel Co. v. Thomas (1995), the Supreme Court held that state law is the source of the limitations period, so the deadline depends on the state.
Besides back pay and benefits owed to workers, an employer that fails to notify the local government faces a civil penalty of up to $500 a day, unless it pays each affected worker what it owes within 3 weeks of ordering the closing or layoff. A court may also award attorney's fees.