Final WARNing: Maryland’s Law Mandating Notice of Mass Layoffs and RIFs Is Now in Effect!

Quick Hits

• Maryland’s mini-WARN Act requires employers with at least fifty employees to provide sixty days’ written notice of covered “reductions in operations,” involving the greater of at least 25 percent or fifteen employees.
• The MDOL declined to enforce the statute’s mandatory notice provisions until final regulations issued; those regulations are now effective.
• The final regulations track the most recent revised proposal and are accompanied by guidance explaining interpretations and processes.

Background

Like the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, Maryland’s mini-WARN Act requires sixty days’ written notice to employees and specified government officials when a covered employer undertakes a mass layoff or significant reduction in operations. While observance of the statute and regulations was initially voluntary, the General Assembly made the notice provisions mandatory in 2020. In 2021, the act was amended to more closely align with federal law. Paul D. Burgin, coauthor of this article, played a key role in advocating for those amendments before the General Assembly on behalf of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce.

In 2020, the MDOL announced that it would delay enforcement of the act until the regulations were updated to reflect the new mandatory notice provisions. The department released proposed regulations in December 2023 for public comment, then issued a revised version of the proposed regulations on June 14, 2025, for an additional comment period. Paul Burgin prepared comments on behalf of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, noting areas of confusion and the need for further guidance. Following that process, the MDOL has now finalized the regulations without substantive changes from the revised proposal. The department has indicated it will address open questions through the “Economic Stabilization Act (ESA) Frequently Asked Questions (For Employers)” on its Work Adjustment and Retraining Notification and Other Dislocation Notices webpage.

What the Act Requires

Maryland’s mini-WARN Act applies to employers with at least fifty employees that have operated an industrial, commercial, or business enterprise in the state for over a year. The law is triggered by a “reduction in operations,” which includes either:

• relocating “part of an employer’s operation from an initial workplace to another existing or proposed site that may reduce the total number of employees at the initial workplace by at least 25% or 15 employees, whichever is greater”; or
• shutting down all or part of a workplace that “reduces the total number of employees by at least 25% or 15 employees, whichever is greater, over any 3-month period.”

For example, if an employer with one hundred employees lays off fifteen, the law is not triggered because, although fifteen meets the numerical threshold, the applicable “greater of” threshold is 25 percent (twenty-five employees).

Certain categories of employees are excluded from the fifty-employee coverage threshold, including employees who average fewer than twenty hours per week, those employed fewer than six of the preceding twelve months, and employees who accept a transfer to another workplace within thirty days. A “workplace” is a permanent office or facility within Maryland at which the employer produces goods or provides services; construction sites and temporary workplaces are excluded.

The act does not apply where the reduction results solely from a labor dispute; occurs at a construction site or temporary workplace; is due to industry-specific seasonal factors as determined by the MDOL; or results from bankruptcy.

Covered employers must provide sixty days’ written notice before a reduction in operations to all employees at the affected workplace—including part-time and short-tenured employees—any union or other employee representative, the State Dislocated Worker Unit, and the chief elected official of the political subdivision where the workplace is located. If the affected workplace spans multiple jurisdictions, notice goes to the jurisdiction to which the employer paid the most taxes in the prior fiscal year. The MDOL’s FAQs clarify that this rule also applies to scenarios involving remote workers throughout the state.

Notices must state the name and address of the affected workplace, contact information for a company official, whether the reduction is temporary or permanent and whether the workplace will close, and the expected start date of the reduction.

Employers may provide shortened notice if they were actively seeking capital or business that, if obtained, would have averted or postponed the reduction and they reasonably believed that providing notice would have precluded obtaining the capital or business, or if the reduction was caused by a natural disaster. In such cases, notice must be given as soon as practicable, along with an explanation for the reduced notice. Unlike federal WARN, Maryland does not recognize an exception for unforeseeable business circumstances.

In a business sale, both the seller (on or before closing) and the purchaser (after closing) must issue any required notice. Employees of the seller are considered employees of the purchaser upon the sale, such that no employment loss occurs solely due to the transfer.

Violations may result in an order compelling compliance and civil penalties of up to $10,000 per day. In assessing penalties, the secretary of labor may consider the seriousness of the violation, the size of the business, the employer’s good faith, and any history of violations. Employers are entitled to notice and an opportunity for a hearing.

What the Final Regulations Contain

The final regulations are unchanged from the revised proposed regulations published on June 14, 2025.

Telework and Remote Workers

The regulations define “remote worker” as an employee or group of employees operating under the same EIN who have a permanent arrangement to perform their duties at an approved worksite other than the assigned workplace. “Telework” is defined as a worksite flexibility agreement permitting employees to perform their duties from an approved alternative worksite other than their official duty station. In its FAQs, the MDOL encourages employers that are not sure whether their workers are considered remote workers or teleworkers to contact the MDOL’s Dislocation Services Unit at sheila.bouloubassis@maryland.gov.

With respect to “workplace,” the regulations incorporate the statutory definition and further specify that a workplace includes the “official duty station or agency worksite for telework employees within the State of Maryland” and, for remote workers, the “entire State of Maryland … is considered a single workplace.” In practice, this means the act extends to teleworking and remote workforces, and remote workers may be aggregated statewide and treated as part of a single workplace for coverage and threshold analyses.

Mechanisms to Start Assistance Programs

The regulations direct the secretary of labor to initiate outreach to employers facing or planning a permanent reduction in operations. The final rule removes the prior requirement that the contact be made by phone, reflecting modern communication practices. However, whereas prior rules required the contact to be confidential, the final regulations instruct the department to consider confidential, commercial, and financial information. This change shifts from a blanket confidentiality requirement to a content-based consideration, which may create ambiguity regarding the handling of communications and information.

Order Compelling Compliance

Following an investigation, if the secretary believes a violation occurred, the secretary shall, “with reasonable promptness, issue a [written] order compelling compliance.” The order must “[d]escribe with specificity the alleged violation,” state any proposed penalty, and inform the recipient of the enforcement procedures and rights.

Under the enforcement provisions, an employer may contest a proposed penalty in writing within fifteen business days of the order. If no timely contest is filed, the penalty becomes final. If a contest is filed, the matter is referred to the Office of Administrative Hearings for a contested case proceeding under standard procedures.

Other Provisions

A new notice provision expressly requires sixty days’ written notice of a reduction in operations by covered employers. The previously voluntary “Guidelines for Employers Anticipating a Permanent Reduction in Work Force—now called “Guidelines for Employers Anticipating a Permanent Reduction in Operations”—is now mandatory with minimal substantive change. Existing rules governing the MDOL’s Rapid Response Program and assistance from the Division of Workforce Development and Adult Learning remain substantively unchanged and continue to serve as resources for employers and employees navigating mass layoffs or reductions in force.

What Happens Now?

While the MDOL has issued guidance and FAQs, much of the available material restates statutory and regulatory text and leaves certain practical questions to be addressed through future guidance and enforcement practice. In the interim, employers may wish to carefully assess their workforce plans, including remote and telework populations, evaluate potential triggers, and plan communications and timing to align with Maryland’s notice requirements and available exceptions.

Ogletree Deakins’ Baltimore office and RIF/WARN Practice Group will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates on the Maryland and Reductions in Force blogs as additional information becomes available.

In addition, the Ogletree Deakins Client Portal provides subscribers with updated WARN and mini-WARN law summaries, as well as other information related to Terminations and RIFs, including Termination Notices and Final Pay Upon Termination requirements. For more information on the Client Portal or a Client Portal subscription, please reach out to clientportal@ogletree.com.

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