If you've lost your job in a layoff, you are no doubt concerned about your finances, benefits, and finding new work. There is help available to laid-off workers from the government, in the form of unemployment compensation.
But your former employer has legal obligations as well. This article explains your legal rights in a layoff, including what your former employer is required to do for you.
For most laid-off workers, money is the biggest concern. You are entitled to receive your final paycheck within time limits set by state law. Some states give employees who have been laid off or fired a right to receive their paychecks quickly, sometimes on the day they lose their jobs or a day or two later.
Other states allow employers to wait until the next regularly scheduled payday to cut a final check. To check your state's law on final paychecks, see Nolo's article Chart: Final Paychecks for Departing Employees.
In a number of states, employers must include a departing employee's accrued vacation time (but not sick time) in the employee's final paycheck. Some states, such as California, give all employees this legal right; other states only require employers to pay out unused vacation time if their policies or practices provide for it.
To find out how your state handles this issue, contact your state labor department. (You can find a list of links at www.dol.gov, the official website of the federal Department of Labor.)
Generally, employees who lose their jobs in a layoff have no automatic right to severance pay. However, there are a few exceptions:
If you think you may have a legal right to severance that your former employer is not honoring, you should consider talking to an employment lawyer.
If you have been receiving health insurance coverage through your employer, you might have a legal right to continue those benefits for at least 18 months. A federal law called Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) gives employees (and their dependents) the right to continue their health insurance coverage for a period of time after losing their jobs.
However, employees are responsible for paying the full cost of the premium, at the group rate negotiated by their former employer. COBRA applies to employers with 20 or more employees, but some states have similar laws that might apply to smaller employers. (For more information see our article on your rights when you leave your job.)
The federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires larger employers to give employees notice 60 days before an impending plant closing or mass layoff that will result in job losses for a specified number or percentage of employees.
If an employer fails to give the required notice, the employees can collect wages and benefits for every day that notice is late, up to 60 days.
WARN applies only to employees with 100 or more employees, and only if there is a plant closing or mass layoff. The law defines these terms as follows:
The law also covers staged plant closings or layoffs, which are defined the same as above but occur in stages over a period of 90 days. This rule is intended to prevent employers from getting around the law's requirements by conducting a series of smaller layoffs.
There are some exceptions to the 60-day-notice requirement, including when a layoff or plant closing was due to:
In the case of exceptions for natural disasters or unexpected business circumstances, the employer must give as much notice as is practicable. (29 U.S.C. §§ 2101-2109.)
More than half of the states also have laws that require employers to give notice of a layoff. Some of these laws apply to smaller employers (or smaller layoffs) than the federal WARN Act.
And some require employers to do more than provide notice. For example, Connecticut employers that permanently shut down or relocate their facility out of state must pay to continue their former employees' health insurance for 120 days.
In Maine, employers that discontinue business operations or relocate at least 100 miles away must pay one week of severance for each year of employment to employees who have been with the company for at least three years. To learn about your state's rules, contact your state labor department.
In all states, employees who are laid off are eligible for unemployment benefits, as long as they meet other eligibility requirements. To learn more, see our state articles on collecting unemployment benefits.