Legal Question in Employment Law in California
Has employee rights if franchiser closes business on 24 hours notice
a fast food franchise closed the last of that company's restaurants
in a major city after giving employees only 24 hour's notice. Do
they have any redress? -- There are other restaurants belonging
to that company outside the city but the employees live in the city
& commuting would be difficult to impossible. This level job at their
skill levels would also be difficult to impossible. All are young,
people of color and living at subsistence level. At least three of the
ve worked for the company more than five years. That is a lot of
time, effort and loyalty to be thrown out in the garbage like this.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Has employee rights if franchiser closes business on 24 hours notice
There is a federal law known as the "WARN" act, and there is an equivalent state law. Both laws require employers to give employees 60 days notice prior to a "mass layoff" or "plant closing." Failure of the employer to comply with the law's provisions may entitled the employees to 60 days wages in lieu of the notice.
The law is complicated to interpret and application is factually specific. The employees should check with an employee rights attorney in their area to determine if the WARN act applies to their situation.
The bad news is that if the WARN act doesn't apply to this situation, the employees will have no recourse (other than unemployment benefits.) An employer is not required to provide severance pay to terminated employees, and naturally an employer is not required to keep unprofitable businesses open.
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