Final answer:
Covered employers under the WARN Act must provide a 60-day advance notice before a mass layoff or plant closing. European countries often have more stringent requirements, with longer notice periods and larger severance packages, which can impact hiring decisions.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, covered employers are required to provide a 60-day advance notice before initiating a mass layoff or plant closing. This rule applies specifically to businesses with more than 100 employees. The purpose of this notification period is to give workers and their families time to prepare for the transition and to seek other employment or retraining opportunities.
Comparatively, in many European countries, employment protection laws mandate even longer notice periods and substantial severance packages, creating a high level of job security for workers. For example, legally required notices can extend beyond three months in countries like Spain, Germany, Denmark, and Belgium, with severance packages reaching up to a year's pay in Austria, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Greece. These provisions reflect different labor market philosophies and are intended to create a more stable environment for workers, albeit at the potential cost of increasing the employers' hesitancy in hiring.