California recently passed Senate Bill 617 which requires additional information to be provided in Cal-WARN Act notices issued on or after January 1, 2026.
As a brief background, there are federal and state laws which discuss the issue of notice owed to employees before large layoffs. The Federal law is known as the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification or “WARN” Act. California’s version of the WARN act (AB 2957, the “Cal-WARN Act”) contains additional provisions employers must be aware of. Cal-WARN Act notices are required if a “covered” establishment suffers a “mass layoff” or 50 or more employees, a “termination” of substantial operation, or a “relocation” to a different location 100 or more miles away. (Cal. Labor Code §§1400.5(d)-(f).) The notices must be sent to affected employees, the state Employment Development Department (“EDD”), and other local agencies. See our prior articles addressing these requirements in more detail here, as well as the EDD’s summary of the laws here.
The new bill does not change any of the circumstances that give rise to the WARN notice requirements, the federal WARN Act elements that are to be added to the Cal-WARN notice, or the individuals and entities that must be delivered a copy of the Cal-WARN notice.
SB 617 requires the following additional language be included in all Cal-WARN notices starting next calendar year:
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