New Hampshire WARN Act and Layoff Notice Requirements
New Hampshire has its own layoff-notice law in addition to federal WARN. Here's who's covered, how much notice is required, the penalties, where to find official notices, and what employees should do.
New Hampshire has its own layoff-notice law in addition to federal WARN. The state rule may cover smaller employers, smaller layoffs, longer notice, additional recipients, or different penalties. Whether it applies depends on the employer, worksite, number of affected employees, event type, and timing.
For New Hampshire: Any business enterprise that employs in New Hampshire 100 or more employees, excluding part-time employees, or 100 or more employees who in the aggregate work at least 3,000 hours per week (RSA 275-F:2). Covered events generally require 60 days' written notice before a covered plant closing or mass layoff (rsa 275-f:3). separately, new hampshire employment security asks employers to report a layoff of 25 or more individuals shortly after it happens, for unemployment processing.
At a glance
Federal WARN vs New Hampshire
The federal WARN Act is the nationwide baseline: it generally requires 60 days' written notice for a covered plant closing or mass layoff at employers with 100+ employees, with remedies of back pay and benefits enforced through the courts. New Hampshire's state law can be broader — for example, New Hampshire Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (RSA chapter 275-F). The details below reflect the state rule.
Covered employers, events & thresholds
Covered employer: Any business enterprise that employs in New Hampshire 100 or more employees, excluding part-time employees, or 100 or more employees who in the aggregate work at least 3,000 hours per week (RSA 275-F:2).
plant closing
A permanent or temporary shutdown of a single site of employment in New Hampshire causing an employment loss for 50 or more employees, excluding part-time employees, during any 30-day period.
mass layoff
A reduction in force, not the result of a plant closing, causing an employment loss at a single New Hampshire site during any 30-day period for at least 250 employees, or for at least 25 employees if they are 33% of the full-time employees there (part-time and seasonal employees excluded).
Notice period: 60 days' written notice before a covered plant closing or mass layoff (RSA 275-F:3). Separately, New Hampshire Employment Security asks employers to report a layoff of 25 or more individuals shortly after it happens, for unemployment processing.
Who must receive notice
Employees
- Affected employees and their representatives
Government
- The New Hampshire Commissioner of Labor
- The New Hampshire Attorney General
- The chief elected official of each New Hampshire municipality where the closing or layoff occurs
Find official New Hampshire WARN notices
New Hampshire does not publish a broad public searchable WARN database. The Office of Workforce Opportunity runs Rapid Response, and New Hampshire Employment Security handles layoff reporting — contact either for layoff information.
Open the official NH WARN noticesYou can also track recent filings in the LayoffNext WARN Radar — then confirm details against the official NH source above.
New Hampshire does not publish a public list
This is the part worth knowing before you start looking: New Hampshire collects WARN notices but does not post a public, searchable list of them. There is no page to find, so contacting the agency is the route rather than a fallback.
- 1Contact NH Office of Workforce Opportunity / NH Employment Security (Rapid Response) and ask directly whether a WARN notice was received for your employer and worksite, giving the legal entity name and your last day.
- 2Ask for the notice date and the effective date, and whether the notice named your site. Those three facts are what any later assessment turns on.
- 3Ask for it in writing, or follow the call with an email summarising what you were told. A verbal answer is hard to rely on later.
- 4Ask the same office about Rapid Response services in the same conversation — those are available to you whether or not WARN applied, and this is the office that runs them.
Some states treat notices as records available on request rather than as published data. If the agency declines, ask what records request process applies — that is a different route from a public list, and it exists.
Penalties & employee remedies
An employer that fails to give the required notice owes each affected employee back pay (at the higher of the three-year average or final rate) and the value of lost benefits, including medical expenses, for up to 60 days or one-half the days the employee was employed, whichever is smaller, plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees. Failing to notify the Commissioner carries a civil penalty of up to $2,500 plus up to $100 per employee for each day of noncompliance, avoidable by paying affected employees within three weeks.
Back pay
Back pay at the higher of the employee's average regular rate over the last 3 years or final rate, for up to 60 days or one-half the days employed, whichever is smaller (RSA 275-F:8).
Benefits
The value of the benefits the employee would have received, including medical expenses that an employee benefit plan would have covered (RSA 275-F:8).
Civil penalty
Up to $2,500, plus up to $100 per employee for each day of noncompliance, for failing to notify the Commissioner — avoidable if the employer pays affected employees within three weeks (RSA 275-F:9).
How to raise it
Contact the New Hampshire Department of Labor about a suspected violation, or sue in superior court for back pay, benefits and attorney's fees — individually or through your labor organization.
Major exceptions & special cases
- Faltering company — actively seeking capital or business by a commercially reasonable method, where notice would have precluded obtaining it.
- Business circumstances not reasonably foreseeable when notice would have been required.
- Closing of a temporary facility or completion of a project where employees knew their employment was limited to it.
- Physical calamity, natural disaster, or an act of terrorism or war; and strikes or lockouts not intended to evade the Act.
Remote workers
Coverage follows the New Hampshire single site of employment; remote-worker treatment can be fact-specific.
Temporary layoffs
Whether a temporary layoff or furlough triggers notice can depend on its expected length and the specific rule — verify with the agency for your situation.
What an employee should do in New Hampshire
- 1Confirm your employer has 100 or more employees in New Hampshire, and whether your layoff meets the plant-closing (50+) or mass-layoff (25+ at 33%, or 250+) test at your site.
- 2Note the dates: New Hampshire requires 60 days' written notice to employees, the Commissioner of Labor, the Attorney General and the municipality.
- 3If notice was short, contact the New Hampshire Department of Labor — or consider a superior court action for back pay, benefits and attorney's fees.
- 4Contact the Office of Workforce Opportunity or NH Employment Security for Rapid Response and reemployment help.
New Hampshire scenarios
A 30-person layoff at a 90-person site
Facts: A New Hampshire employer with 400 employees statewide lays off 30 of the 90 full-time employees at one site.
30 is at least 25 and is 33% of the site's full-time workforce, so this is a mass layoff under RSA 275-F even though it falls short of federal WARN's 50-employee floor for a mass layoff. 60 days' notice was owed to the employees, the Commissioner of Labor, the Attorney General and the municipality.
Short notice of a plant closing
Facts: A New Hampshire plant with 120 employees closes with two weeks' notice.
Each affected employee can be owed back pay and benefits for the period of violation — up to 60 days, or half their days of employment if fewer — plus costs and attorney's fees, and the employer faces a civil penalty for failing to notify the Commissioner unless it pays employees within three weeks.
New Hampshire WARN Act FAQ
Does New Hampshire have a mini-WARN law?+
How much layoff notice is required in New Hampshire?+
How is New Hampshire's law different from federal WARN?+
What penalties apply in New Hampshire?+
What should a New Hampshire employee do after a layoff?+
Nearby states
New Hampshire unemploymentRelated
Sources & methodology
This page summarizes New Hampshire's layoff-notice rules from official government sources and links to each. Coverage and outcomes depend on the employer, worksite, headcount, event, and timing, and rules can change. Where a specific figure wasn't confirmable this pass, the text says “verify.” Confirm the current rule with the agency and, where rights are at stake, an attorney.
- RSA chapter 275-F — Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification — New Hampshire General CourtThe state statute / legal basis. · Last verified Sep 22, 2026
- Business Compliance (mass-layoff reporting) — New Hampshire Employment SecurityOfficial agency guidance. · Last verified Jul 24, 2026
- Layoffs, Closures, and Rapid Response — NH Office of Workforce Opportunity (NH Economy)Official agency guidance. · Last verified Jul 24, 2026
- Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (federal) — U.S. Department of LaborOfficial agency guidance. · Last verified Jul 24, 2026
Important disclaimer
This page is educational only and is not legal advice or representation, and LayoffNext is not a law firm. Whether WARN applies, and any remedies, depend on the employer, worksite, headcount, event type, timing, and the current law, which can change. Nothing here is a conclusion that an employer did or did not comply. Verify details with the official sources above and consult a qualified attorney about your situation. See our full disclaimer.
Deepak Middha is the founder of LayoffNext and a Chartered Accountant (ICAI, India). A U.S. immigrant with nearly 20 years of experience — and 17 years in hedge fund and private equity administration, including as Vice President of Fund Accounting at NAV Fund Administration Group and Associate Director of Private Equity and Real Estate at SS&C Technologies — he builds free, plain-language layoff tools and guides for employees, H-1B workers, and immigrant families.