How Often Do Workers Receive Advance Notice of Layoffs

Advance notice to workers about to be laid off is of increasing interest to policymakers and others looking for ways to avoid or reduce the period of dislocation between jobs . A number of States have passed laws requiring or offering incentives for providing advance notice . In September 1986, the Bureau of Labor Statistics surveyed establishments in seven States which participated in the Bureau's mass layoff reporting system .' The reporting system covers layoff events of 30 days or more in which at least 50 initial claims for unemployment compensation were filed in a 3-week period by separated workers against their former employer . This system, which will soon be nationwide, provides detailed information on plants and workers affected by closings and layoffs . Establishments reporting layoffs in the last half of 1985 in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Massachusetts, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin were recontacted by employment security agency staff in each of these States and asked to provide additional information on activities leading to the layoff. A total of 248 establishments responded to the survey, accounting for 271 layoffs and the separation of 67,800 workers, 49,327 of whom filed claims for unemployment compensation . While the survey findings are not representative of the Nation as a whole (because State selection was not based on socioeconomic or demographic factors, or