This bill creates a new Washington Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act as a new chapter in Title 49 RCW and adds or amends provisions in several existing statutes. It requires employers that operate a “covered establishment” (100 or more employees) to provide written notice 60 days before a mass layoff, relocation, or termination to affected employees, the employment security department, local workforce partners, local chief elected officials, and any exclusive bargaining representative. Notices must follow content rules consistent with the federal WARN Act and include additional statements and supporting data. Employers who fail to provide required notice face liability to affected employees for the value of lost wages (the higher of the average regular rate during the last three years or final compensation) and the value of benefits for up to 60 days, and civil penalties of up to $500 per day unless the employer pays amounts owed to all applicable employees within three weeks. Employers must continue group health insurance for affected employees and covered dependents for up to 120 days or until other group coverage begins; the department may investigate and order payments for violations and may examine employer books and records. The bill establishes administrative and judicial procedures: department notices of violation or payment orders may be appealed to the commissioner within 30 days, hearings are assigned to an administrative law judge who issues an initial order reviewed de novo, the commissioner issues final orders under chapter 34.05 RCW, and final orders are subject to judicial review. It creates an online mass layoff survey system (to be developed by October 1, 2026) that employers must distribute and give employees at least 30 days to complete; the department will compile and publish anonymous demographic data. It requires employers to provide rapid response partners reasonable access during work hours for at least a 90-minute voluntary presentation. The act also creates a private right of action, allows courts to reduce penalties if an employer reasonably investigated in good faith, permits recovery of attorneys’ fees for prevailing plaintiffs, and makes cooperating with competing employers on mass layoff timing or terms an unfair method of competition under RCW 19.86. The bill amends nondisclosure law (RCW 49.44.211) to render nondisclosure and nondisparagement provisions unenforceable to the extent they bar disclosure of conduct an employee reasonably believes is illegal discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage-and-hour violations, sexual assault, or conduct that violates clear public policy, and voids clauses that condition severance or compensation on silence about a mass layoff; it provides civil remedies and damages for violations occurring after June 9, 2022. It also amends noncompetition covenant law (RCW 49.62.020) to require disclosure of covenants, to presume unenforceability for covenants lasting more than 18 months (rebuttable only by clear and convincing evidence), to require compensation equal to base salary (minus subsequent earnings) when enforcement follows a layoff, to bar enforcement after a mass layoff if the employer failed to provide the required notice, and to exempt higher-earning employees (annualized earnings above $100,000, adjusted annually). The act includes a severability clause and takes effect July 1, 2026. Some text and definitions are missing from the provided extracts. Definitions referenced in section 2 (including detailed definitions of “employer” and “mass layoff”), the remainder of certain subsections (for example the end of Sec. 7(3)(c)), and the full text of the amendment to RCW 49.62.020 were not included in the materials provided, so specific language and any additional requirements or exceptions in those parts are not available here.

If enacted, employers that run facilities with 100 or more workers will face new upfront warning, reporting, and support duties before large layoffs, relocations, or shutdowns: they must give 60 days’ written notice to workers and multiple government entities with detailed reasons and supporting data, and those notices will be published. Employers will likely see higher immediate costs and administrative work because they must continue group health coverage for affected employees and dependents for up to 120 days, may owe up to 60 days of lost wages and value of benefits if they fail to give proper notice, and could face civil penalties (up to $500 per day unless they make required payments within three weeks). Employers also must allow workforce rapid response staff at least 90 minutes of access during work hours and provide terminated employees information to take an anonymous demographic survey (the department must have the online survey by October 1, 2026), and both enforcement actions and civil suits can be brought by employees or local governments. Workers gain clearer protections and more transition help: notice, published information, temporary health coverage, access to rapid response services, and an anonymous way to report demographic information; employees may recover pay and benefits if notice rules are broken and can challenge nondisclosure clauses that silence discussion of illegal conduct or mass layoff terms. The law also limits employers’ use of long noncompetition agreements by presuming covenants over 18 months unreasonable, requiring compensation to enforce some covenants after layoff, and barring enforcement of such covenants after a mass layoff when notice was not given. Some important details are missing from the extracted text (complete definitions in section 2 and parts of several sections are not shown), so precise thresholds and certain administrative procedures remain unclear.