The Fair Warning Act of 2025 aims to strengthen the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, providing greater support and notice to employees affected by site closings and mass layoffs. It redefines key terms to broaden the scope of coverage, ensuring more workers and businesses are subject to its provisions. These changes are intended to give affected employees more time and resources to prepare for job transitions.

The bill significantly lowers the threshold for what constitutes an employer, applying to businesses with 50 or more employees or an annual payroll of at least $2,000,000. It also clarifies that parent, affiliate, or contracting companies can be held liable based on their degree of control. The definitions of employment loss, mass layoff, and site closing are expanded, including reductions in hours over 50 percent and lowering employee count thresholds to 10 for mass layoffs at a single site (or 250 overall) and 5 for site closings, while also including remote workers associated with a site.

A core change is extending the mandatory advance notice period for site closings and mass layoffs from 60 to 90 calendar days. Employers must provide this notice to affected employees or their representatives, the Secretary of Labor, the State Governor, the State rapid response entity, and the chief elected official of the local government. State rapid response entities receiving notice are now required to make the information publicly available, transmit it to local areas, and establish a labor-management committee and rapid response coordinator within 20 days.

New provisions address temporary mass layoffs or site closings, requiring employers to provide initial notice, offer short-time compensation, and either recall employees within 90 days or provide further notice. If a temporary layoff culminates in termination with less than 90 days' notice, the employer is liable for back pay and benefits for up to 90 days, without reduction for short-time compensation received. Exceptions to the 90-day notice period are narrowed, primarily for unforeseen circumstances like natural disasters or public health emergencies, or specific situations involving potential new business or financing, but employers must still provide as much notice as practicable.

Enforcement mechanisms are substantially enhanced, introducing liquidated damages equal to 30 days of back pay in addition to existing liabilities. The maximum liability period is extended to 90 days, plus additional days for parental, family, or medical leave. The statute of limitations for bringing an action is set at 4 years, and the bill explicitly states that rights and remedies under the Act cannot be waived by predispute agreements, including arbitration agreements. Attorney's fees are awarded to prevailing plaintiffs.

Finally, the bill mandates the Secretary of Labor to create and maintain a publicly available database of all WARN notices, including details like employer name, affected local government, number of employees, and sector. Employers are also required to provide affected employees with a guide of available benefits and services, maintained by the Secretary of Labor, and permit on-site access for rapid response teams.