Layoff

Your employer likely has the right to terminate your employment at anytime though a layoff. That's because employment is presumed to be "at will" in the U.S. It's also because employers have the right to protect themselves financially through layoffs.

But, you have at least some employee rights regarding a layoff. For example, your employee rights might entitle you to collect state unemployment benefits and purchase COBRA extended health insurance benefits at group rates after you're laid off.

Your employee rights also protect you from your employer illegally firing you under the guise of a layoff. Read Wrongful Termination for information about the types of employment discharges that might be illegal under the guise of a layoff.

Lastly, your employee rights might require your employer to give you advanced notice of a mass layoff, so that you may at least prepare financially to lose your job while searching for another.

Under certain circumstances, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act) requires employers to give affected employees up to 60 days of advanced notice for mass layoffs or plant closings.

Under the WARN Act (or an equivalent state law), your employer must continue to pay you and grant you the benefits to which you're entitled through your advanced layoff notice period, whether or not your employer requires you to work through it.

However, if you start a new job during your layoff notice period, under the WARN Act it's the same as resigning from your current job. If your employer discovers that you've started a new job, your employer likely will not owe you for the remainder of your layoff notice period.

If your employer fails to honor the layoff requirements of the WARN Act and you wish to seek damages, you might have little choice but to do so through a lawsuit (or your union). Although the U.S. Department of Labor administers the WARN Act, it has no power to enforce it. However, district courts do. Consult an attorney about a WARN Act lawsuit.

Final pay laws vary by state, But, generally, employee rights under such laws require employers to issue final paychecks immediately or soon after employment ends, such as by the next regularly-scheduled payday after a layoff date.

Although your employer might offer severance pay anyway, your employee rights do not generally entitle you to receive it for a layoff, unless you're working under a collective bargaining agreement, or an explicit or implied contract that indicates otherwise. The pay you'd receive through the end of your layoff notice period under the WARN Act is your regular pay, not severance pay by definition.

Contact the relevant state labor department or consult an attorney for more information about employees rights regarding a layoff.