Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 102 Part 1.djvu/930

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PUBLIC LAW 100-000—MMMM. DD, 1988

102 STAT. 892

PUBLIC LAW 100-379—AUG. 4, 1988

(b) REDUCTION OP NOTIFICATION PERIOD.—(1) An employer may order the shutdown of a single site of employment before the conclusion of the 60-day period if as of the time that notice would have been required the employer was actively seeking capital or business which, if obtained, would have enabled the employer to avoid or postpone the shutdown and the employer reasonably and in good faith believed that giving the notice required would have precluded the employer from obtaining the needed capital or business. (2)(A) An employer may order a plant closing or mass layoff before the conclusion of the 60-day period if the closing or mass layoff is caused by business circumstances that were not reasonably foreseeable as of the time that notice would have been required. (B) No notice under this Act shall be required if the plant closing or mass layoff is due to any form of natural disaster, such as a flood, earthquake, or the drought currently ravaging the farmlands of the United States. (3) An employer relying on this subsection shall give as much notice as is practicable and at that time shall give a brief statement of the basis for reducing the notification period. (c) EXTENSION OF LAYOFF PERIOD.—A layoff of more than 6 months which, at its outset, was announced to be a layoff of 6 months or less, shall be treated as an employment loss under this Act unless— (1) the extension beyond 6 months is caused by business circumstances (including unforeseeable changes in price or cost) not reasonably foreseeable at the time of the initial layoff; and (2) notice is given at the time it becomes reasonably foreseeable that the extension beyond 6 months will be required. (d) DETERMINATIONS WITH RESPECT TO EMPLOYMENT Loss.—For

purposes of this section, in determining whether a plant closing or mass layoff has occurred or will occur, employment losses for 2 or more groups at a single site of employment, each of which is less than the minimum number of employees specified in section 2(a)(2) or (3) but which in the aggregate exceed that minimum number, and which occur within any 90-day period shall be considered to be a plant closing or mass layoff unless the employer demonstrates that the employment losses are the result of separate and distinct actions and causes and are not an attempt by the employer to evade the requirements of this Act. 29 USC 2103.

SEC. 4. EXEMPTIONS.

This Act shall not apply to a plant closing or mass layoff if— (1) the closing is of a temporary facility or the closing or layoff is the result of the completion of a particular project or undertaking, and the affected employees were hired with the understanding that their employment was limited to the duration of the facility or the project or undertaking; or (2) the closing or layoff constitutes a strike or constitutes a lockout not intended to evade the requirements of this Act. Nothing in this Act shall require an employer to serve written notice pursuant to section 3(a) of this Act when permanently replacing a person who is deemed to be an economic striker under the National Labor Relations Act: Provided, That nothing in this Act shall be deemed to validate or invalidate any judicial or administrative ruling relating to the hiring of permanent i replacements for economic strikers under the National Labor Relations Act.