Ohio Enacts New Mini-WARN Law

There has been a lot of publicity and discussion regarding Ohio House Bill No. 96, which, after using his pocket veto to delete several provisions, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed into law on July 1, 2025.  While most of the provisions in House Bill No. 96 related to state budgetary matters, buried in the 3,156 pages of the bill was the addition of new statute to the state’s Miscellaneous Labor Provisions, Ohio Revised Code § 4113.31, which for the first time provides employers with an Ohio mini-WARN statute.  The new law goes into effect on September 29, 2025.

Like the federal WARN Act, the Ohio mini-WARN requires 60 days’ notice to affected employees prior to a plant closing or mass layoff, and it otherwise incorporates many of the federal WARN definitions and requirements. See Ohio Revised Code § 4113.31(B). However, there is uncertainty regarding when notice is required for a mass layoff.  Under the federal law, a mass layoff occurs when at least 50 full-time employees who comprise 33% of the workforce at a single site of employment are laid off in a 30-day period, or a rolling 90-day period, while the Ohio law provides that a mass layoff occurs when “the employer lays off 50 or more employees at a single site of employment during any 30-day period.”  Id. 

There are two other relatively significant differences from the federal law in Ohio’s mini-WARN.

• In addition to providing notice to the affected employees, the union representative(s), the state dislocate worker unit, and the unit of local government to which an employer directly paid the highest taxes in the prior year, notice must also be provided to the chief elected official of both the municipal corporation and the county where the plant closing or mass layoff is to occur.
• In addition to the information to be provided to those receiving notice, an employer must also include additional information to the government officials receiving notice, as well as additional information to the affected employees or their union.
  • For employees represented by a union, an employer must provide a detailed statement explaining the reason for the plant closing or mass layoff, and, when indicating the number of affect employees and their job titles or positions, the notice must include any department or division impacted by the closing or mass layoff.
  • For employees not represented by a union, employers must provide the detailed statement, along with information about how to exercise any bumping rights as well as information about how to access unemployment benefits, other assistance programs, and available services, such as job placement assistance, retraining programs and counseling services.
• With respect to the notice to the government officials, the Ohio mini-WARN does not expressly allow the use of a “short form,” as the federal law does. The additional required information to be given to the government officials is:
  • All of the new information to be provided to affected employees or their union,
  • As well as a description of any action taken or planned by the employer to mitigate the impact of the plant closing or mass layoff, including any efforts to secure alternative employment or training for the affected employees.
  • The government officials additionally are to be given a copy of the notice sent to the affected employees or their union.

The Ohio Director of Job and Family Services may be issuing guidance and procedures for the submission of notices by employers, and, if so, we will keep you informed.

If you have questions about Ohio’s mini-WARN law, or a general labor or employment question, feel free to contact Joel R. Hlavaty or any member of Frantz Ward’s Labor & Employment Group.