Layoffs

AN ACT Relating to protecting workers facing employment loss due 1
to businesses closing or mass layoffs; adding a new chapter to Title 2
49 RCW; and prescribing penalties. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The definitions in this section apply 5
throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires 6
otherwise.7
(1) "Affected employee" means an employee who may reasonably 8
expect to experience an employment loss because of a proposed 9
business closing or mass layoff by an employer. 10
(2) "Aggrieved employee" means an employee who has worked for the 11
employer ordering the business closing or mass layoff and who, 12
because of the employer's failure to comply with the requirements of 13
this act, did not receive timely notice either directly or through 14
the employee's representative. 15
(3) "Bargaining representative" means an exclusive representative 16
of employees under the national labor relations act, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 17
151 et seq., or the railway labor act, 45 U.S.C. Sec. 151 et seq.18
(4) "Business closing" means the permanent or temporary shutdown 19
of a single site of employment of one or more facilities or operating 20
S-0606.2
SENATE BILL 5525
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senators Cleveland, Saldaña, Hasegawa, Riccelli, Dhingra, Conway,
Nobles, and Valdez
Read first time 01/27/25. Referred to Committee on Labor & Commerce.
p. 1 SB 5525
units that will result in an employment loss for 50 or more 1
employees, excluding part-time employees. 2
(5) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of the employment 3
security department. 4
(6) "Department" means the employment security department.5
(7) "Employee" means a person employed in this state by an 6
employer. "Employee" includes part-time employees. 7
(8) "Employer" means a person who employs 50 or more employees in 8
this state, excluding part-time employees. However, for the purposes 9
of section 6 of this act only, "employer" means a person who employs 10
100 or more employees in this state, excluding part-time employees.11
(9)(a) "Employment loss" means: 12
(i) An employment termination, other than a discharge for cause, 13
voluntary separation, or retirement; 14
(ii) A layoff exceeding six months; or 15
(iii) A reduction in hours of more than 50 percent of work of 16
individual employees during each month of a six-month period.17
(b) "Employment loss" does not include instances when a business 18
closing or mass layoff is the result of the relocation or 19
consolidation of part or all of the employer's business and, before 20
the business closing or mass layoff, the employer offers to transfer 21
the employee to a different site of employment within a reasonable 22
commuting distance, as defined by the department, with no more than a 23
six-month break in employment. 24
(10) "Mass layoff" means a reduction in employment force that is 25
not the result of a business closing and results in an employment 26
loss during any 30-day period of 50 or more employees, excluding 27
part-time employees. 28
(11) "Part-time employee" means an employee who is employed for 29
an average of fewer than 20 hours per week, or an employee who has 30
been employed for fewer than six of the twelve months preceding the 31
date on which notice is required. However, if an applicable 32
collective bargaining agreement defines a part-time employee, such 33
definition shall supersede the definition in this subsection.34
(12) "Single site of employment" means a single location or a 35
group of contiguous locations, such as a group of structures that 36
form a campus or business park or separate facilities across the 37
street from each other. 38
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NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1)(a) Subject to section 3 of this act, 1
an employer may not order a business closing or a mass layoff until 2
the end of a 60-day period that begins after the employer, pursuant 3
to this section, serves written notice of such action to the 4
department and to the affected employee or, if the employee is 5
represented by a union, to the employee's bargaining representative.6
(b) An employer who has previously announced and carried out a 7
short-term mass layoff of three months or less that is extended 8
beyond three months due to business circumstances not reasonably 9
foreseeable at the time of the initial mass layoff is required to 10
give notice when it becomes reasonably foreseeable that the extension 11
is required. A mass layoff extending beyond three months from the 12
date the mass layoff commenced for any other reason must be treated 13
as an employment loss from the date of commencement of the initial 14
mass layoff. 15
(c) In the case of the sale of part or all of a business, the 16
seller is responsible for providing notice of any business closing or 17
mass layoff which will take place up to and on the effective date of 18
the sale. The buyer is responsible for providing notice of any 19
business closing or mass layoff that will take place thereafter.20
(2) Notice from the employer to the department or affected 21
employees or, if the employees are represented, the employees' 22
bargaining representative must be in written form, include the 23
elements required, as they exist on the effective date of this 24
section, by the federal worker adjustment and retraining notification 25
act, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 2101 et seq., and include the following:26
(a) The name and address of the employment site where the 27
business closing or mass layoff will occur, and the name and contact 28
information of a company official to contact for further information;29
(b) A statement whether the planned action is expected to be 30
permanent or temporary and, if the entire business is to be closed, a 31
statement to that effect. If the planned action is expected to be 32
temporary, the statement must also include whether the planned action 33
is expected to last longer or shorter than three months;34
(c) The expected date of the first employment loss and the 35
anticipated schedule for employment losses; and 36
(d) The job titles of positions to be affected and the names of 37
the employees currently holding the affected jobs. The notice to the 38
department must also include the addresses of the affected employees.39
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(3) The employer must provide additional notice of the date or 1
schedule of dates of a planned business closing or mass layoff 2
extended beyond the date of any period announced in the original 3
notice. 4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) An employer is not required to comply 5
with the notice requirements under section 2 of this act if:6
(a)(i) At the time the notice would have been required, the 7
employer was actively seeking capital or business; 8
(ii) The capital or business sought, if obtained, would have 9
enabled the employer to avoid or postpone the business closing or 10
mass layoff; and 11
(iii) The employer reasonably and in good faith believed that 12
giving the notice required by section 2 of this act would have 13
precluded the employer from obtaining the needed capital or business;14
(b) The mass layoff or business closing is caused by business 15
circumstances that were not reasonably foreseeable at the time the 16
notice would have been required. The unforeseeable business 17
circumstances must be caused by a sudden, dramatic, and unexpected 18
action or condition outside of the employer's control; or19
(c) The mass layoff or business closing is due to a natural 20
disaster, such as a flood, earthquake, drought, storm, tornado, or 21
similar effects of nature. 22
(2) If an exception under this section applies for only part of 23
the 60-day notice window, notice is required at the time the 24
exception no longer applies. If notice is not provided, the employer 25
is liable for each day notice is not provided pursuant to sections 4 26
and 5 of this act. 27
(3) The department may not determine an exception under this 28
section applies unless the employer meets the documentation and other 29
requirements established by the department pursuant to section 7 of 30
this act. 31
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) An employer that orders a business 32
closing or mass layoff without providing a notice required by section 33
2 of this act is liable to each aggrieved employee who suffers an 34
employment loss because of the closing or layoff for:35
(a) Back pay for each day of violation not less than the higher 36
of: 37
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(i) The average regular rate of compensation received by the 1
employee during the last three years of the employee's employment; or2
(ii) The employee's final rate of compensation; and3
(b) The value of the cost of any benefits to which the employee 4
would have been entitled had their employment not been lost, 5
including the cost of any medical expenses incurred by the employee 6
that would have been covered under an employee benefit plan.7
(2) Liability under this section must be calculated for the 8
period of the employer's violation up to a maximum of 60 days.9
(3) The amount for which an employer is liable under this section 10
must be reduced by: 11
(a) Any wages paid by the employer to the employee during the 12
period of the violation; 13
(b) Any voluntary and unconditional payment by the employer to 14
the employee that is not required by any legal obligation;15
(c) The amount paid to the employee pursuant to the federal 16
worker adjustment and retraining notification act, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 17
2101 et seq.; and 18
(d) Any payment by the employer to a third party or trustee, such 19
as premiums for health benefits or payments to a defined contribution 20
pension plan, on behalf and attributable to the employee for the 21
period of the violation. 22
(4)(a) The department, an aggrieved employee, or the bargaining 23
representative of the aggrieved employee may bring a civil action on 24
behalf of the person, other persons similarly situated, or both, in 25
any court of competent jurisdiction within three years of the alleged 26
violation. The court may award reasonable attorneys' fees as part of 27
costs to any plaintiff who prevails in a civil action brought under 28
this chapter. 29
(b) If the court determines that an employer conducted a 30
reasonable investigation in good faith and had reasonable grounds to 31
believe that its conduct was not a violation of this chapter, the 32
court may reduce the amount of any penalty it would otherwise impose 33
against the employer under this chapter. 34
(c) This chapter does not grant any court the authority to enjoin 35
a mass layoff or business closing. 36
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) An employer who fails to give the 37
notice required by section 2 of this act to the department is subject 38
to a civil penalty of not more than $500 for each day of the 39
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employer's violation. However, the employer is not subject to a civil 1
penalty under this section if the employer pays to all applicable 2
employees the amounts for which the employer is liable under section 3
4 of this act within three weeks from the date the employer orders 4
the mass layoff, relocation, or termination. 5
(2) Any civil penalty paid by the employer under the federal 6
worker adjustment and retraining notification act, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 7
2101 et seq., must be considered a payment of the civil penalty under 8
this section. 9
(3) All penalties recovered under this section must be paid into 10
the state treasury and credited to the general fund.11
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. (1) When a mass layoff or business closing 12
occurs, the employer must pay in full for the continuation of 13
existing group health insurance, no matter where the group policy was 14
written, issued, or delivered, for each employee experiencing 15
employment loss as a result of the business closing or mass layoff 16
and their dependents, if covered under the group policy, from the 17
date of the business closing or employee's layoff for a period of 120 18
days or until the employee becomes eligible for other group coverage, 19
whichever is less.20
(2) The department may investigate alleged violations of this 21
section and may, upon a finding that an employer has violated this 22
section, issue a notice of violation and order a payment to the 23
employee equal to the value of the cost of any benefits to which the 24
employee would have been entitled, including the cost of any medical 25
expenses incurred by the employee that would have been covered under 26
an employee benefit plan. However, the department may not investigate 27
an alleged violation occurring more than three years prior.28
(3)(a) An employer may appeal a notice of violation or order of 29
payment issued by the department by filing a notice of appeal with 30
the commissioner within 30 days of the department's issuance of the 31
notice of violation. A notice of violation or order of payment not 32
appealed within 30 days is final and binding, and not subject to 33
further appeal. 34
(b) A notice of appeal filed with the commissioner under this 35
section stays the effectiveness of the notice of violation or order 36
of payment pending final review of the appeal by the commissioner as 37
provided for in chapter 34.05 RCW. 38
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(c) Upon receipt of a notice of appeal, the commissioner shall 1
assign the hearing to an administrative law judge of the office of 2
administrative hearings to conduct the hearing and issue an initial 3
order. The hearing and review procedures must be conducted in 4
accordance with chapter 34.05 RCW, and the standard of review by the 5
administrative law judge must be de novo. Any party who seeks to 6
challenge an initial order shall file a petition for administrative 7
review with the commissioner within 30 days after service of the 8
initial order. The commissioner shall conduct an administrative 9
review in accordance with chapter 34.05 RCW. 10
(d) The commissioner shall issue all final orders after appeal of 11
the initial order. The final order of the commissioner is subject to 12
judicial review in accordance with chapter 34.05 RCW.13
(e) Orders that are not appealed within the time period specified 14
in this section and chapter 34.05 RCW are final and binding, and not 15
subject to further appeal. 16
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. The department shall administer and 17
enforce the provisions of this chapter and may adopt rules to carry 18
out its purpose. Rules adopted pursuant to this section must include 19
documentation requirements for the exceptions in section 3 of this 20
act.21
NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. This act may be known and cited as the 22
securing timely notification and benefits for laid-off employees act.23
NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. Sections 1 through 8 of this act 24
constitute a new chapter in Title 49 RCW.25
NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. If any provision of this act or its 26
application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the 27
remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other 28
persons or circumstances is not affected.29
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