Has anyone in Clinton heard anything about the NJ law regarding severance pay requirements for large companies closing a site in NJ?
https://www.paychex.com/articles/compliance/new-jersey-warn-act
4 replies (most recent on top)
The Warn Act clearly provides for severance and not just 60/90 day notification period. I have been told that XOM is aware of the Warn Act and is reviewing their responsibility.
IMHO - They are probably using the law department to try to figure a way out of it. This would make a good class action if they find some loophole to avoid paying what NJ clearly has defined in the law to protect employees.
I think you got it confused. You believe that XOM should give 90 days before it announced it's closure. When the Act is for employees to be protect for 90 days until they find new employment
Since XOM gave employees to the site until 2028. Employees should be able to know where they will be at (relocate, find a new job, etc)
The Warn Act is to give notice to employee of closure/mass layoff within 60 days. It is to provide workers with sufficient time to prepare for the transition between the jobs they currently hold and new jobs. It already notified everyone in the site that it will close 3-4 years. They notified you guys on May 15, 2024, so you will get settlement if they close site on July 14, 2024
You Clinton employees hoping to get a settlement is plain delusional
https://www.nj.com/politics/2023/01/nj-will-guarantee-severance-pay-for-workers-in-mass-layoffs-under-law-murphy-just-signed.html#:~:text=Under%20the%20legislation%20%28A4768%29%2C%20businesses%20in%20New%20Jersey,workers%20of%20incoming%20mass%20layoffs%20within%2090%20days.
- J. will guarantee severance pay for workers in mass layoffs under law Murphy just signed
Updated: Mar. 29, 2023, 1:47 p.m.|Published: Jan. 11, 2023, 8:30 a.m.
After a three-year delay, a requirement forcing employers in New Jersey to give severance pay to workers who lost their jobs in mass layoffs is finally set to take effect.
Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law in January 2020 making New Jersey the first state in the U.S. to guarantee such protection, but it was put on hold because the coronavirus pandemic upended the economy.
On Tuesday, Murphy signed a new law mandating the changes to take effect in 90 days.
Under the legislation (A4768), businesses in New Jersey with 100 or more workers must pay severance of one week for each year of work in the event of a large layoff or a plant closing or transfer that will put at least 50 people out of a job.
Companies are also required to notify workers of incoming mass layoffs within 90 days. That’s up from 60 under previous law.
“This is the right and decent thing to do to ensure that employees who lived up to their end of the bargain are provided with adequate notice and compensation when an employer engages in mass layoffs,” Murphy said in a statement.
State Sen. Joseph Cryan, D-Union, a main sponsor, said ”now is time to put these worker protections into place.”
“Companies and hedge fund managers have been exploiting bankruptcy laws to protect their profits while workers lose their jobs, their paychecks and severance pay. The workers were left in the dark and cheated out of deserved compensation while the companies were pillaged for their resources. The law will help protect the rights of the workers from these abuses.”
Sponsors were inspired to push the original law in the wake of Toys “R” Us closing its doors, which caused more than 30,000 workers nationwide to lose their jobs, including some 2,000 in New Jersey.
The retail giant’s employees were initially let go without severance. Facing public pressure, two of the private equity funds that owned Toys “R” Us have since established a $20 million severance fund, while workers won a $2 million settlement.
The measure finally implementing the law passed the state Senate 32-2 and the state Assembly 65-13 last month.
Worker-rights advocates repeatedly called for New Jersey’s leaders to finally enact the law, saying more than 28,000 workers in the state who lost their jobs have been denied help during the delay.
“When companies fall on hard times, and are going through significant layoffs, it is necessary to ensure severance for hard working employees,” said state Sen. Fred Madden, D- Gloucester, another sponsor. “With growing fears of additional mass layoffs, especially within the tech industry, this law is more crucial now more than ever to ensure that workers are given the adequate notice and support.”
Critics of the law, including the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, warned the legislation will prompt some companies to decide against locating or expanding in New Jersey.