Ohio’s WARN notices are expanding - are you ready?

Layoffs and site closures are tough decisions, but mishandling them invites legal risk and reputational damage.

Federal WARN covers enterprises with at least 100 employees excluding WARN-defined part-time workers, or at least 100 including them working at least 4,000 hours weekly in total, excluding overtime. Covered employers generally owe 60 days’ notice for qualifying plant closings or mass layoffs.

Ohio’s 2025 requirements under ORC 4113.31 retain federal definitions and standards while expanding notice content. Plant closings and mass layoffs have different site-level loss tests, detailed in the checklist below. Notify authorized representatives or each unrepresented affected employee, the ODJFS director/Rapid Response Unit, and both municipal and county chief elected officials. Check ODJFS guidance and 20 CFR Part 639 for details.

Use reasonable delivery designed to ensure receipt at least 60 days before separation (e.g., first-class mail or personal delivery). Ordinarily, the first and each later covered group is due a full 60 days’ notice. Failing to comply can mean back pay, benefits, and civil penalties, so review your templates and distribution lists now.

Compliance in a flexible world

When the federal WARN Act passed in 1988, most employees were 9-to-5 office workers. Not anymore. Nearly half of U.S. job postings today offer hybrid or remote options, and 76% of workers say flexibility influences whether they stay with their employer.

Your layoff plans should account for remote staff across multiple jurisdictions. Track headcount by location and contract type to know whether a shutdown triggers state or federal thresholds. Document the job title, worksite and union status for each affected employee. For remote/outstationed staff, apply the WARN single-site rules using assigned home base, work-assignment source and reporting site—not automatically each home address.

For remote layoffs, use reasonable delivery designed to ensure receipt 60 days before each covered separation group. Secure e-mail is not automatically compliant; verify receipt.

AI and automation: friend or foe in workforce transitions?

HR automation isn’t a future fantasy; it’s a current reality. One in three organizations already uses AI in recruitment and hiring, and 42% customize job postings with AI tools.

Automated résumé screening can shorten time-to-hire by up to 45%, and chatbots like Chipotle’s have pushed application completion rates past 80%. Embrace these tools during restructure planning.

Use predictive people analytics to forecast attrition and model alternative staffing scenarios. Chatbots can answer employee questions about severance, open roles, or redeployment options, providing a more humane experience at scale.

Just remember that AI augments - not replaces - human judgment; 93% of recruiters see automation as a complement, not a cost-cutter.

The contingent workforce boom

Freelancers now make up roughly 46.6% of the global workforce, representing about 1.57b people. Two-thirds of companies plan to increase their use of contingent workers in the next two years.

The gig economy is a $646.77b market in 2025 and is projected to top $2t by 2033. Meanwhile, 28% of skilled U.S. knowledge workers earn their living through freelance or non-traditional arrangements, often making $85,000 or more.

This shift means many “workers” affected by layoffs are contractors rather than employees, so the WARN Act may not apply. Yet reputational risk remains.

Treat contingent workers with transparency, provide advance notice where possible, and coordinate with staffing agencies. To manage the growing contingent workforce, 72% of HR managers now use digital talent platforms. Consider investing in vendor management systems that offer workforce analytics and cost controls.

Wellness programs: more than an employee perk

Layoffs often amplify stress. Robust wellness programs cushion the blow.

By 2025, 87% of companies offer formal wellness initiatives, up from 61% in 2020, and 77% of employees say these initiatives improve company culture.

As you prepare for workforce changes, invest in mental-health resources and wellness stipends. Transparency and empathetic communication can mitigate anxiety - key for remote teams, where 81% say hybrid or remote work improves their mental wellbeing.

Empathetic leadership during workforce change

Empathy matters during workforce transitions. Businessolver’s 2025 survey found that 27% of employee respondents viewed their organization as unempathetic.

Those survey respondents were 1.5x more likely to expect a job change within six months and reported 3x higher toxicity and 1.3x more mental health issues. Businessolver estimated $180b in annual attrition-cost risk at workplaces perceived as unempathetic—not observed losses or guaranteed savings.

Conversely, CEOs who cultivate empathy experience 2.4x fewer benefit cuts, invest twice as much in employee wellness, and recruit more aggressively. Practical empathy includes active listening, frequent feedback, and flexible work policies.

For example, 60% of remote/hybrid workers and 74% of HR professionals say they would resign if forced back to the office full-time. During reorganizations, offering remote or hybrid alternatives can retain top talent.

CSR & DEI: good deeds drive good business

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is no longer optional. Companies with strong CSR programs see up to a 6% increase in market value over 15 years.

Over 80% of global consumers prefer brands that support causes they care about, and nearly 75% would boycott businesses that take opposing stances. In the labor market, 70% of job seekers consider a company’s social impact before accepting an offer.

CSR is also a powerful engagement tool: 88% of employees say volunteering contributes to their personal and professional growth. Pair CSR with DEI efforts: 76% of Gen Z employees are more likely to stay when DEI is active, and organizations with diverse leadership generate 19% more innovation revenue.

Measure success with metrics like volunteer hours, diversity ratios, and promotion rates for underrepresented groups.

Upskilling & reskilling: the next competitiveness frontier

According to the World Economic Forum, 40% of core skills will change for workers by 2025, and 50% of all employees will need reskilling.

A Deloitte survey found 74% of organizations say reskilling is crucial to their success in the next 12-18 months, while 79% of L&D professionals agree it’s less expensive to reskill existing employees than to hire new ones. Yet only 36% of companies qualify as “career development champions,” with robust programs that deliver measurable business outcomes.

Those companies are 42% more likely to be generative-AI frontrunners. Encourage managers to identify skill gaps, create personalized learning plans, and link training to career pathways. Use skills-mapping analytics to predict future needs and align reskilling with business strategy. Offering apprenticeships, stretch assignments, and micro-credentials can help redeployed employees thrive after a layoff.

People analytics: turning data into decisions

Predictive analytics, once reserved for finance, is now an HR staple: 49% of HR leaders say the “future of work” is a top priority and 46% are increasing investment in future-of-work initiatives.

Employee-experience analytics is another rising field, with 47% of HR leaders focusing on it and 53% of employees reporting change fatigue. DEI analytics is critical too; 82% of executives are satisfied with their organization’s DEI progress, yet only 56% of employees agree - an insight only data can reveal.

Adopt dashboards that track turnover drivers, wellness participation, and career development metrics. Use those insights to proactively adjust workforce plans and avoid last-minute layoffs.

Framework: an HR compliance checklist for Ohio WARN events

1. Identify the event: Count enterprise-wide workers and site-level losses. Employment loss means termination other than for cause, voluntary departure or retirement; layoff over six months; or an hours cut over 50% in each month of six months. Transfers/relocations must meet § 639.3(f)’s conditions to avoid a loss. WARN part-time means averaging under 20 hours/week or employed fewer than six of the prior 12 months when notice is due—even on full-time schedules. For remote/outstationed workers, assess assigned home base, work-assignment source and reporting site, not each residence.
2. Evaluate thresholds: Enterprise coverage: at least 100 employees excluding WARN part-time workers, or 100 including them with at least 4,000 total weekly hours excluding overtime. Event counts exclude part-time workers, but affected part-time workers are due notice. At one site in any 30 days: a site/facility/operating-unit shutdown causing at least 50 losses is a plant closing; a reduction not due to a closing needs at least 50 losses and 33% of active employees, or 500 without the percentage test, for a mass layoff. Look ahead/behind 30 and 90 days; aggregate smaller losses within 90 days unless you establish separate, distinct actions and causes and no WARN evasion.
3. Map stakeholders: Notify affected employees’ authorized representatives (serve their chief elected officer) or each unrepresented affected employee; the ODJFS director and Rapid Response Unit; and both municipal and county chief elected officials. For an elected board, serve its chairperson.
4. Draft compliant notices: Check federal and Ohio rules for each recipient; this is a guide, not a complete template.
   • Unrepresented affected employees: Use clear language: detailed reason; permanent/temporary action and any full-plant closure; event and individual separation dates; bumping/other reemployment rights and procedures; access to unemployment/other assistance; employer contact name/title/phone and other contact details; available placement, retraining or counseling services.
   • Authorized representatives: Site name/address; employer contact name/phone; detailed reason, permanent/temporary action and any full-plant closure; event start, first separation and schedule; total affected, counts by job title/department and names of workers holding affected jobs.
   • State/local officials: Applicable employee/representative information above; site name/address and employer contact; first separation and schedule; job-title counts; bumping information; each representing employee organization’s name and chief elected officer’s name/address; mitigation actions taken/planned, including alternative employment/training; copy of the employee or representative notice.
5. Deliver timely: Choose reasonable delivery designed to ensure receipt a full 60 days before each covered separation group, including the first. Reduced notice requires an applicable statutory exception the employer must prove; give all recipients as much notice as practicable and explain the shortened period when notice is given. Ohio encourages voluntary 60-day notice to all workers slated for layoff, even below 50 workers or the 33% test.
6. Coordinate support: Partner with local Rapid Response teams to provide employees with job fairs, resume workshops, and retraining programs. Offer internal redeployment or reskilling opportunities where feasible.
7. Track outcomes: Use people analytics to monitor attrition, engagement, and diversity metrics during and after the event. Adjust future workforce plans accordingly.

Example scenario: a plant closure done right

Consider an Ohio auto supplier planning to close a facility employing 75 people due to automation. This hypothetical assumes a covered employer and at least 50 employment losses at one site in 30 days, excluding WARN part-time workers.

HR partners with legal counsel to confirm WARN thresholds and drafts recipient-specific 60-day notices using the requirements above. They notify authorized representatives’ chief elected officers or each unrepresented affected employee, the ODJFS director/Rapid Response Unit, and both municipal and county chief elected officials (serve an elected board’s chairperson).

Meanwhile, HR deploys AI-driven skills assessments to identify which workers can be retrained for roles at other plants or remote positions. For those facing separation, the company hosts a virtual job fair with local manufacturers and offers resume coaching. Employees receive mental-health support and financial counseling.

Post-closure metrics would track voluntary attrition and the share of displaced workers transitioning into new roles within the company or its supply chain.

Bringing it all together

Ohio’s evolving WARN landscape is just one piece of a much larger puzzle. HR leaders today must juggle legal compliance, workforce flexibility, technology adoption, wellbeing, DEI, CSR, empathy, reskilling, and analytics. Ignoring any of these pieces can jeopardize talent, productivity, and brand reputation.

Start by auditing your layoff procedures against Ohio’s 2025 requirements under ORC 4113.31. Then build a proactive people strategy: embrace hybrid work, use AI wisely, care for employee wellbeing, champion diversity and social impact, invest in reskilling, and turn data into foresight.

Finally, lead with empathy through clear communication, listening and practical support.