Washington’s legislative session recently ended with a number of significant new employment laws affecting Evergreen State employers. The new state laws cover the full range of the employment life cycle, from pay transparency, use of criminal records in hiring and personnel file requests to pregnancy accommodations, paid family and medical leave, mass layoffs and more. We summarize these key developments below.
WA WARN Act
Washington is the latest state to enact its own mini-WARN Act, joining several other states, like New York, California and Maryland. Under the Securing Timely Notification and Benefits for Laid-Off Employees Act (WA WARN Act), effective July 27, 2025, covered Washington employers will be required to give 60 days’ advance notice before qualifying business closures or mass layoffs and, in some instances, short-term layoffs and sales of businesses. In the case of a short-term layoff, for example, notice may be required if a short-term mass layoff of three months or less is extended beyond three months. In the case of sale of part or all of a business, sellers may be responsible for providing notice of any business closing or mass layoff taking place up to and on the effective date of the sale. We outline the key requirements of the WA WARN Act below.
Covered employers
The WA WARN Act applies to employers employing 50 or more employees in the state (excluding part-time employees) – unlike the federal WARN Act, which only applies to employers with 100 or...
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