Back in late February and early March corporations in many industries were blindsided by the Coronavirus pandemic and its impact on their bottom line. Companies in the oil & gas sector took on dramatic losses as the demand for oil plummeted. Several Oil Giants elected to lay people off in an attempt to combat significant losses. ExxonMobil has been in the news a lot this year for how they have handled cost-cutting measures. First, they attempted to reduce employees through a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP). After that, ExxonMobil cut benefits by ending their 401(k) matching program, and most recently they’ve conducted a round of voluntary & involuntary layoffs.
These employee reduction methods certainly beg the question, why has ExxonMobil not issued a Warn Notice to its employees? Could the lack of a Warn Notice lead some employees to seek legal recourse?
The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires employers to provide 60 days notice in advance of a business closure or mass layoff. Businesses do have the ability to claim “unforeseeable business circumstances” in instances where they do not offer a Warn Notice. Obviously a global pandemic would fall under the category of unforeseeable circumstances, but the only question is how long can business make that claim? Obviously in March ExxonMobil had unforeseen circumstances, but after 8 months into a pandemic, it becomes harder to claim that as a defense.
Some ExxonMobil employees expressed confusion over the lack of Warn Notice on thelayoff.com blog site. One employee in particular stated, "No WARN notice from XOM listed on the TX Dept of Labor site. TX requires 60 day notice if more than 250 layoffs are coming. I’ll keep checking and post if I see anything"
When businesses claim unforeseen circumstances they are still obligated to provide their employees with as much notice as possible. Obviously, what constitutes "as much notice as possible" will vary case by case. There have not been an overwhelming amount of Warn Act lawsuits since the pandemic began, and it is becoming clear that the longer this pandemic goes on the less protected ExxonMobil becomes.
Sources:
Puerta, Andres F. “As Weather Cools Down, WARN Act Lawsuits Likely to Heat Up - HR Daily Advisor.” HR Daily Advisor, 10 Nov. 2020, https://hrdailyadvisor.blr.com/2020/11/10/as-weather-cools-down-warn-act-lawsuits-likely-to-heat-up/.
Jones, Benji. “Leaked Documents Reveal Exxon Changed Its Employee Ranking System amid the Coronavirus Pandemic, Putting More Workers at Risk of Getting Cut.” Business Insider, 24 July 2020.
Jones, Benji. “Exxon Made Managers Dub Some Employees Poor Performers to Cut Staff – Business Insider.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 30 July 2020, https://www.businessinsider.com/exxon-managers-dub-some-employees-poor-performers-cut-staff-2020-7