Compliance Stuff

With layoffs trending upward in industries like manufacturing, business services, and transportation, it’s important to be aware of the legal requirements surrounding mass business closures or worker terminations. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires employers to provide advance notice to employees of certain plant closings and mass layoffs with limited exceptions. But the law has very specific requirements about the information you need to provide, when to provide it, and which employees you need to notify when engaging in major workforce reductions. Here’s everything that may surprise you when it comes to plant closures and large-scale terminations – and your 4-step plan to comply with the WARN Act. Does WARN Apply to My Business? The WARN Act can be triggered in several ways based on the number of impacted employees and under certain conditions. Generally, the law requires that during any 90-day period, private businesses with more than 100 full-time...

A government shutdown can be a significant disruption for small business federal contractors. Preparing in advance and taking the proper steps can help mitigate the financial and operational impact of a shutdown. The following is a non-exhaustive set of steps and issues that small business contractors may consider: Review Your Contracts:  Scrutinize every contract for clauses related to funding, stop-work orders, excusable delays, or the Availability of Funds clause (FAR 52.232-18). Identify which contracts are funded by annual appropriations versus those with multi-year or “no-year” funding. This will help you determine which projects are most at risk.  The impact of a shutdown varies greatly depending on the type of contract.  Create a master spreadsheet listing all contracts, agencies, funding status, and current work phases. Fixed-Price Contracts:   You may be required to continue work, even if payments are delayed. If you are ordered to stop, you may be able t...