S. 1792Senate110th Congress (2007-2009)In Committee

FOREWARN Act of 2007

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SenateIntro Referral Latest Action

Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S12134-12135)

September 26, 2007

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SenateIntro Referral

Introduced in Senate

July 16, 2007

SenateIntro Referral

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee

July 16, 2007

SenateIntro Referral

Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S12134-12135)

September 26, 2007

Floor Debate

2 members

What members said about S. 1792 on the floor

2 Democrats

Sen. Sherrod BrownD-OH · Sep 26, 2007

Mr. President, in July, I introduced S. 1792, the FOREWARN Act of 2007, a direct outgrowth of legislation that one of my predecessors, two predecessors ago, Senator Metzenbaum from Ohio, introduced called the WARN Act, legislation he got through the Congress in the 1980s, but legislation that now needs an update. It is about plant closings and job loss.

Job loss, whether it is in Ohio or whether it is in Seattle, does not just affect a worker or a worker's family. Job loss devastates entire communities and local economies.

While notice of a layoff is no substitute for a job, the WARN Act of 20 years ago was supposed to give employees time to find a new job and for help to be provided. Under current law, however, fair notice has proven to be the exception, not the rule, because too many have gamed the old WARN Act.

Employers have laid off workers in phases to avoid the threshold level of the WARN Act, used subsidiaries to evade liability, and pressured workers in too many cases, in too many places around Ohio to waive their rights.

Whether one lives in Toledo, Columbus, Cleveland, Akron, Cincinnati, or Lebanon, it is absolutely critical that in these situations, workers and groups have sufficient notice to begin working to attempt to limit the damage this causes a community.

The new legislation which I introduced in July, with Senator Clinton, Senator Obama, and Senator Stabenow, S. 1792, will close these loopholes and provide the tools necessary for the enforcement of the rules.

The legislation gives the Labor Department the authority to take civil action for violations, as well as giving authority to State attorneys general if the Labor Secretary fails to act within 6 months. So if the Labor Secretary today refuses to act, if this happens in Zanesville or Lima, Attorney General Marc Dann of Ohio may take action.

The legislation reduces the closing plant threshold from the current number 50, which is gamed all too often, to 25 employees. It recalculates the mass layoff figure. The current mass layoff figure is calculated from at least one-third of the employees, or 50. FOREWARN sets the number at 100 in all events, or one-third of employees if there are between 50 and 100 employees.

Our legislation, S. 1792, reduces the employer size to 50 employees and lengthens the notification period from 60 calendar days to 90 calendar days. It requires employers to provide written notification to the Labor Secretary, as well as local stakeholders, including early warning networks and mayors. It increases penalties for violations of the WARN Act from back pay to double back pay.

Mr. President, I know you have had this problem in the State of Pennsylvania, the problem of lost manufacturing, and you know that the worst thing a community can face is a major plant closing or major reduction of workforce in a plant. And you know that as bad as that is, there are some things employers can do to make it better, and many do. But you also know that the law passed 20 years ago has not always made sure that the transition from losing their job to going back into the community and getting work, getting their family through the hardest times, getting the community through the hardest times--the law has not always addressed the best way to do that, and I think this legislation, S. 1792, does that very well.

I ask my colleagues to consider this legislation. It is time to update the 20-year law, the WARN Act, which passed and was approved by President Reagan. I think this legislation will help ease the lost-job problems. We need to do much more. We need to train differently, we need new trade law, different tax laws, and all the different kinds of things the Presiding Officer and I have worked on already in our time in the Senate, but the FOREWARN Act will matter for communities such as Steubenville, Portsmouth, and Chillicothe, and it will matter for families who have suffered the indignities and the tragedies and the hardship of lost jobs and plant closings.

Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr.D-PA · Sep 26, 2007

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Bill Text

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Introduced in SenateIssued July 16, 2007

110th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 1792

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

July 16, 2007

Mr. Brown (for himself, Mr. Obama, and Mrs. Clinton) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To amend the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act to improve such Act.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the FOREWARN Act of 2007.

Amendments to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act

(a)

Definitions

Section 2(a) of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2101(a)) is amended—

(1)

in paragraph (1)—

(A)

by striking 100 each place that such appears and inserting 50; and

(B)

in subparagraph (B), by striking 4,000 and inserting 2,000;

(2)

in paragraph (2), by striking 50 and inserting 25; and

(3)

in paragraph (3)(B)(ii), by striking 500 and inserting 100.

(b)

Notice required

Section 3 of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2102) is amended—

(1)

in subsection (a), by striking 60-day and inserting 90-day;

(2)

in subsection (b), by striking 60-day each place that such appears and inserting 90-day; and

(3)

by adding at the end the following:

(e)

Calendar days

All references in this Act to days shall be deemed to mean calendar days.

(c)

Notice to other parties and Secretary of Labor

Section 3(a) of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2102(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

(e)

Notice to the Secretary

Not later than 60 days after a plant closing or mass layoff, the employer involved shall submit to the Secretary of Labor a notification of the closing or layoff and the number of employees involved.

(d)

Penalty

Section 5 of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2104) is amended—

(1)

in subsection (a)(1)(A), by striking back pay and inserting double the back pay;

(2)

in the flush matter following subparagraph (B), by striking 60 days and inserting 90 days; and

(3)

by adding at the end the following:

(c)

Authority of Secretary of Labor

A civil action may be brought by the Secretary of Labor (or the appropriate State attorney general if the Secretary fails to act within 6 months of the alleged violation) on behalf of one or more employees for relief under this section. The right provided by this section to bring an action by or on behalf of any employee, and the right of any employee to become a party plaintiff to any such action, shall terminate upon the filing of an action by the Secretary of Labor under this subsection.

(e)

Educational materials

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2101 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

11.

Educational materials

The Secretary of Labor shall make educational materials concerning employee rights and employer responsibilities under this Act available to the general public and employers. Such materials shall be available on the Internet website of the Secretary and in written form for distribution by employers.