Chapter DWD 279

DWD 279.11   Reviews.

DWD 279.12   Referrals.

DWD 279.13   Records and inspections.

Ch. DWD 279 Note Note: Chapter Ind 79 was renumbered chapter ILHR 279 under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 1., Stats., Register, February, 1996, No. 482. Chapter ILHR 279 was renumbered chapter DWD 279 under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 1., Stats., and corrections were made under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 6. and 7., Stats., Register, May, 1997, No. 497.

DWD 279.001 DWD 279.001 Purpose. The purpose of this chapter is to implement s. 109.07, Stats., which provides remedies for an employer’s failure to provide notice of a business closing or mass layoff in certain cases. The chapter provides criteria for exceptions and is designed to aid the administration and enforcement of the law.

DWD 279.001 History History: Cr. Register, March, 1991, No. 423, eff. 4-1-91.

DWD 279.002 DWD 279.002 Interpretation. Whenever possible, this chapter will be interpreted in a manner consistent with the Federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, 29 USC 2101, et seq., the federal regulations and court decisions interpreting that Act to the extent that the provisions of federal and state law are the same.

DWD 279.002 History History: Cr. Register, March, 1991, No. 423, eff. 4-1-91; correction made under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 7., Stats, Register, April, 2001, No. 544.

DWD 279.01 DWD 279.01 Definitions and scope.

DWD 279.01(1) (1) When used in this chapter or in s. 109.07, Stats.:

DWD 279.01(1)(a) (a) “Affected employee” has the meaning specified in s. 109.07 (1) (a), Stats. An employee that suffers loss of employment is an affected employee if that loss is the result of an employment termination (other than a discharge for cause, voluntary departure or retirement), a layoff exceeding 6 months or a reduction in hours of work of more than 50% during each month of any 6-month period. An affected employee does not include an employee discharged for cause or employees who terminate their employment as a result of retirement or voluntary departure. Business partners as well as consultant or contract employees who are paid by another employer or are self employed are not affected employees of the business to which they are assigned.

DWD 279.01(1)(b) (b) “Business closing” has the meaning specified in s. 109.07 (1) (b), Stats.

DWD 279.01(1)(c) (c) “Department” means the department of workforce development.

DWD 279.01(1)(d) (d) “Employer” has the meaning specified in s. 109.07 (1) (d), Stats., but does not include the federal or state government or any of their political subdivisions. Charitable or tax-exempt institutions and organizations are also not included. Independent contractors and wholly or partially owned subsidiaries that are independent from the parent corporation are considered separate employers for the purposes of this section.

DWD 279.01(1)(e) (e) “Employment site” as used in s. 109.07, Stats. means a single location or group of locations within the same municipality or reasonable geographic proximity that share the same or related staff or operational purpose. Employment sites that have separate workforces, separate management, or produce different products are separate employment sites.

DWD 279.01(1)(f) (f) “Facilities” as used in s. 109.07 (1) (b), Stats., means a building or buildings.

DWD 279.01(1)(g) (g) “Mass layoff” has the meaning specified in s. 109.07 (1) (f), Stats.

DWD 279.01(1)(h) (h) “Municipality” means a city, town or village.

DWD 279.01(1)(i) (i) “New or low hour employee” has the meaning specified in s. 109.07 (1) (h), Stats.

DWD 279.01(1)(j) (j) “Operating units” as used in s. 109.07 (1) (b), Stats., means an organizationally or operationally distinct operation or specific work function within or across facilities at an employment site. Only distinct structural or operational entities within an employment site are intended to be included as“operating units.”

DWD 279.01(1)(k) (k) “Persons” as used in s. 109.07 (1) (d), Stats., does not include new or low-hour employees.

DWD 279.01(1)(L) (L) “Substantially all” as used in s. 109.07 (6) (a) and (b), Stats., means that number of an employers affected employees who if hired or offered transfer, will make the total number of affected employees experiencing a loss of employment, as determined by the department on a case by case basis less than the thresholds for a “business closing” or “mass layoff” as defined in s. 109.07 (1) (b) or (f), Stats.

DWD 279.01 History History: Cr. Register, March, 1991, No. 423, eff. 4-1-91.

DWD 279.02 DWD 279.02 Employer notice.

DWD 279.02(1) (1) An employer who has decided upon a business closing or mass layoff in this state shall provide written notice of the closing or mass layoff to the department, any affected employee, any collective bargaining representative of any affected employee and the highest official of any municipality in which the affected employment site is located.

DWD 279.02 Note Note: An employer shall notify the department of a business closing or mass layoff by providing written notice delivered to [e-mail].

DWD 279.02(2) (2) 

DWD 279.02(2)(a) (a) In the case of the sale of part or all of a business the exception in s. 109.07 (6) (a), Stats., may apply. If that exception does not apply and if notice is required, the seller shall provide notice of any business closing or mass layoff that occurs up to the effective date of sale, and the buyer is responsible for providing notice of any business closing or mass layoff that takes place thereafter. If termination or layoff takes place on the sale’s effective date, notice to affected employees not hired by the buyer in connection with the sale is the responsibility of the buyer.

DWD 279.02(2)(b) (b) Not withstanding the allocation of responsibility for notice in par. (a), a buyer and seller may issue notices jointly or as agents of one another. Buyers and sellers also may enter into private agreements which address their respective rights and notice obligations under this subsection.

DWD 279.02(2)(c) (c) If notice is not given as required by par. (a), the employer required to give notice shall be liable for penalties under s. 109.07 (3) and (4m), Stats.

DWD 279.02 History History: Cr. Register, March, 1991, No. 423, eff. 4-1-91.

DWD 279.03 DWD 279.03 Who must receive notice.

DWD 279.03(1) (1) An employer shall provide notice to all affected employees that may reasonably be expected to lose employment as a result of a business closing or mass layoff. If at the time the notice is given, the employer is unable to identify which employee will lose employment due to elimination of a particular position, notice shall be provided to the employee currently holding that position.

DWD 279.03(2) (2) An employer shall notify the collective bargaining representative of an affected employee by providing written notice to that employee’s local bargaining agent or the chief elected officer of the employee’s exclusive bargaining agent.

DWD 279.03(3) (3) An employer shall notify the affected municipality of the business closing or mass layoff by providing written notice to the mayor of a city, town board chairman or village president. In the case of cities organized under a city manager plan, notice shall be delivered to the president of the city council and city manager. For villages organized under a city manager plan, notice shall be delivered to the president of the village board of trustees and the village manager.

DWD 279.03 History History: Cr. Register, March, 1991, No. 423, eff. 4-1-91.

DWD 279.04 DWD 279.04 When employer notice must be given.

DWD 279.04(1) (1) An employer who has decided upon a business closing or mass layoff in this state shall provide written notice of such action no later than 60 calendar days prior to the date that the closing or layoff occurs. The department shall, upon complaint, determine whether notice is required or should have been provided.

DWD 279.04(2) (2) 

DWD 279.04(2)(a) (a) An employer is not required to provide notice as required in this section unless affected employees lose employment in sufficient number on a particular date to meet the definition of business closing or mass layoff. However, subject to par. (c), 2 or more groups of employees who are affected during a 90-day period may be considered in the aggregate in order to determine whether the business closing or mass layoff thresholds have been met, unless the loss of employment in different groups are the result of separate and distinct actions and causes. In order to be considered in the aggregate, each group of employees affected by a reduction in the workforce on different dates must, by itself, be insufficient to trigger notice obligations.

DWD 279.04(2)(b) (b) For the purpose of this subsection successive layoffs or terminations that result from different events are separate and distinct actions and causes. Successive layoffs or reductions in the workforce caused by ongoing unfavorable business conditions are separate and distinct if the employer had a reasonable basis for believing that the subsequent reduction would not necessarily follow from the earlier reduction or reductions.

DWD 279.04(2)(c) (c) The department shall consider, subject to par. (a), a series of layoffs that are related and conducted by the employer with the intent to evade the notice requirements of s. 109.07, Stats. as failure to give timely notice.

DWD 279.04(2)(d) (d) The department shall consider permanent or routine notice given by an employer with the intent to evade the requirements of s. 109.07, Stats., as failure to give timely notice.

DWD 279.04(3) (3) For the purposes of this section, an affected employee’s date of layoff or termination is the date active employment is first denied because of a business closing or mass layoff. The date of an employees’ reduction in hours of work of 50% or more in a given month is the first business day in the month in which the employee experiences that reduction. Notice is required when it becomes evident that the reduction will extend beyond 6 months.

DWD 279.04(4) (4) 

DWD 279.04(4)(a) (a) An employer may use any reasonable method of delivery designed to result in receipt of written notice at least 60 days before the business closing or mass layoff occurs. Employers must exercise reasonable diligence in issuing notices but do not have to take extraordinary or unreasonable measures to ensure notices are actually received by all parties.

DWD 279.04(4)(b) (b) A reasonable method of delivery includes but is not limited to, first class mail, personal delivery with optional signed receipt or in the case of notification directly to affected employees, insertion of notice into pay envelopes. A ticketed notice, in other words, a preprinted notice regularly included in each employee’s pay check or pay envelope, does not meet the requirements of this section.

DWD 279.04(5) (5) To determine whether a business enterprise is an employer subject to s. 109.07, Stats., or to determine the number of employees in an employers workforce or at an employment site against which the 25% threshold for a mass layoff is to be calculated, the point in time at which that number is to be measured is the date the first notice is required to be given. If this“snapshot” of the amount of employees on the date is not representative of the employers ordinary or average employment levels over the previous 90 days then the department shall use a more representative number.

DWD 279.04 History History: Cr. Register, March, 1991, No. 423, eff. 4-1-91.

DWD 279.05 DWD 279.05 Extension of notice. Additional notice of a delayed business closing or mass layoff must be issued within a reasonable time after the employer learns there will be a postponement or delay beyond the date announced in the original notice. The additional notice shall be directed to the same recipients of the original notice. The additional notice shall include reference to the earlier notice, the date to which the planned action is postponed, and the reasons for the postponement or change.

DWD 279.05 History History: Cr. Register, March, 1991, No. 423, eff. 4-1-91.

DWD 279.06 DWD 279.06 Content of employer notice.

DWD 279.06(1) (1) Notice by the employer to each affected employee shall contain at least all of the following:

DWD 279.06(1)(a) (a) The name and address of the employment site where the business closing or mass layoff will occur and the name and telephone number of a company official to contact for further information.

DWD 279.06(1)(b) (b) A description of whether the planned action is expected to be permanent or temporary and, if the entire employment site is to be closed, a statement to that effect. If the planned action is expected to be temporary the notice should to the extent reasonable include the estimated duration of that action, if known.

DWD 279.06(1)(c) (c) The expected date when the business closing or mass layoff will commence and the expected date of the employee’s layoff or separation.

DWD 279.06(1)(d) (d) The name and address of the employee’s collective bargaining representative, if applicable.

DWD 279.06(2) (2) Notice to the collective bargaining representative of an affected employee shall contain all of the following:

DWD 279.06(2)(a) (a) The name and address of the employment site where the business closing or mass layoff will occur and whether the planned action is expected to be permanent or temporary, and if the entire employment site is to be closed a statement to that effect.

DWD 279.06(2)(b) (b) The schedule of separation or layoff, a list including the job titles of the affected positions and the names of employees currently holding those jobs or expected to be affected by the business closing or mass layoff.

DWD 279.06(2)(c) (c) The name and address of a company official for the bargaining representative to contact for further information.

DWD 279.06(3) (3) Notice to the department and to the highest official of the municipality in which the affected employment site is located shall contain all of the following:

DWD 279.06(3)(a) (a) The name and address of the employment site where the business closing or mass layoff will occur.

DWD 279.06(3)(b) (b) The name and telephone number of a company official to contact for further information.

DWD 279.06(3)(c) (c) The expected date of the first separation or layoff.

DWD 279.06(3)(d) (d) The number of employees affected by the business closing or mass layoff.

DWD 279.06(3)(e) (e) A description of whether the planned action is expected to be permanent or temporary and, if the entire employment site is to be closed, a statement to that effect. If the planned action is expected to be temporary the notice should include to the extent reasonable the estimated duration of that action, if known.

DWD 279.06(4) (4) 

DWD 279.06(4)(a) (a) Information provided in the notice shall be based on the best information available to the employer at the time the notice is served. Errors in information provided in a notice that occur because events subsequently change or that are minor inadvertent errors are not to be considered a violation of s. 109.07, Stats.

DWD 279.06(4)(b) (b) Minor inadvertent errors includes but is not limited to factual errors that result because circumstances later changed, the omission or misstatement of position titles or number of employees in a given position, typographical errors or other minor inaccuracies that were unintended.

DWD 279.06(5) (5) Employers may use a form of notice that satisfies the notice requirements of the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act as specified in 20 CFR 639.7, as a substitute for the notice required in this section. In those instances when notice is required under s. 109.07, Stats., but not clearly required under federal law, employer notice shall comply with this section.

DWD 279.06(6) (6) Conditional notice may be given upon the occurrence or nonoccurrence of an event, such as the renewal of a major contract, other than the renewal of a labor contract between the employer and any potentially affected employees as defined in s. 109.07 (1) (a), Stats., when the event is definite and the consequences of its occurrence will lead to a business closing or mass layoff less than 60 days after the event.

DWD 279.06 History History: Cr. Register, March, 1991, No. 423, eff. 4-1-91.

DWD 279.07 DWD 279.07 Posting of notice. An employer shall permanently post in one or more conspicuous places where notices to employees are customarily posted a written notice of employees’ rights, in a form approved by the department, as required by s. 109.07 (7), Stats.

DWD 279.07 Note Note: A copy of the form may be obtained at no charge from the department’s Equal Rights Division, P.O. Box 8928, Madison, Wisconsin 53708.

DWD 279.07 History History: Cr. Register, March, 1991, No. 423, eff. 4-1-91.

DWD 279.08 DWD 279.08 Exceptions. An employer is not liable for failure to give notice if the department, upon complaint, determines the business closing or mass layoff is caused by any of the following:

DWD 279.08(1) (1) A strike or a lockout not intended to evade the requirements of s. 109.07, Stats., including but not limited to loss of employment for nonstriking employees who lose work with an employer because of a strike.

DWD 279.08(2) (2) The sale of all or part of an employer’s business, if the purchaser agrees, in writing, as part of the purchase agreement to hire substantially all of the affected employees with not more than a 6 month break in employment.

DWD 279.08(3) (3) 

DWD 279.08(3)(a) (a) The relocation of all or part of an employer’s business within a reasonable commuting distance, if the employer offers to transfer or hire substantially all of the affected employees with not more than a 6-month break in employment.

DWD 279.08(3)(b) (b) Offers to transfer shall be considered a relocation under this subsection if the employee receives a bona fide transfer offer to an employment site owned and operated by a related enterprise. If the new employment site is within a reasonable commuting distance, the relocation exception will apply, regardless of whether the employer offers to compensate the affected employee for relocation costs. However, an employer’s offer to pay relocation costs may make a more distant site equivalent to one within a reasonable commuting distance for purposes of this subsection.

DWD 279.08(3)(c) (c) Under this subsection, a “reasonable commuting distance”shall be presumed to be a distance of less than 50 miles, unless an affected employee has already been commuting 50 miles or greater on a voluntary basis prior to the relocation or indicates in writing that he or she is willing to commute 50 miles or more under a relocation. On a case by case basis, the department may determine that a commuting distance of less than 50 miles is not reasonable if industry practice or local conditions, such as climate, geographic accessibility, the quality of roads, customary available transportation, including public transportation, and travel time, so warrant.

DWD 279.08(4) (4) 

DWD 279.08(4)(a) (a) The completion of a particular project, activity or undertaking or work of a specific duration, including seasonal work if the affected employees were hired with the understanding that their employment was limited to the duration of the work or project.

DWD 279.08(4)(b) (b) For the purposes of this paragraph, an employer is not required to provide notice to agricultural, construction or other employees whose work is clearly identified as seasonal but not recurring, or who are hired for harvesting, processing, or for work limited to a particular project.

DWD 279.08(4)(c) (c) The department shall consider usual and customary employment practices of the industry or locality, employment contracts or collective bargaining agreements in determining whether the exemption under this paragraph applies to a particular situation.

DWD 279.08(4)(d) (d) A particular project, activity or undertaking or work will be considered to be of a specific duration where employees understand that, upon completion of a particular project, activity, undertaking or work, their employment will cease. There is no requirement that a specific termination date be known or communicated to employees.