Massachusetts rapid response: layoff support for employers

Federal WARN Act notice

• The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act generally covers employers with 100 or more employees, not counting part-time workers.
• A covered employer gives 60 calendar days’ written notice before a plant closing or mass layoff.
• Notice goes to affected employees (or their union), the state dislocated worker unit, and the chief elected official of the local government.
• Some states have their own, broader notice laws. Check Massachusetts’s with the state labor department or counsel.

Check whether WARN notice applies to your layoff. General information, not legal advice.

Workforce boards in Massachusetts

State and local rapid response teams work with employers before and after a layoff to connect workers to services. Start with the board for the county where the workers are.

• Brockton Area Workforce Investment Board DBA MassHire Greater Brockton Workforce Board

  Towns: Abington, Avon, Bridgewater, Brockton, East Bridgewater, Easton, Hanson, Stoughton, West Bridgewater, Whitman

• Cape & Islands Workforce Board

  Towns: Aquinnah, Barnstable Town, Bourne, Brewster, Chatham, Chilmark, Dennis, Eastham, Edgartown, Falmouth, Harwich, Mashpee, Nantucket, Oak Bluffs, Orleans, Provincetown, Sandwich, Tisbury, Truro, Wellfleet, West Tisbury, Yarmouth

• Greater New Bedford Workforce Investment Board, Inc., dba MassHire Greater New Bedford Workforce Board

  Towns: Acushnet, Dartmouth, Fairhaven, Freetown, Lakeville, Marion, Mattapoisett, New Bedford, Rochester, Wareham

• MassHire Berkshire Workforce Board

  Towns: Adams, Alford, Becket, Cheshire, Clarksburg, Dalton, Egremont, Florida, Great Barrington, Hancock, Hinsdale, Lanesborough, Lee, Lenox, Monterey, Mount Washington, New Ashford, New Marlborough, North Adams, Otis, Peru, Pittsfield, Richmond, Sandisfield, Savoy, Sheffield, Stockbridge, Tyringham, Washington, West Stickbridge, Williamstown, Windsor

• MassHire Boston Workforce Board

  Town: Boston

• MassHire Bristol Workforce Board

  Towns: Attleboro, Berkley, Dighton, Fall River, Mansfield, North Attleborough, Norton, Raynham, Rehoboth, Seekonk, Somerset, Swansea, Taunton, Westport

• MassHire Central Region Workforce Board

  Towns: Auburn, Blackstone, Boylston, Brookfield, Charlton, Douglas, Dudley, East Brookfield, Grafton, Hardwick, Holden, Hopedale, Leicester, Mendon, Milford, Millbury, Millville, New Braintree, North Brookfield, Northborough, Northbridge, Oakham, Oxford, Paxton, Rutland, Shrewsbury, Southbridge, Spencer, Sturbridge, Sutton, Upton, Uxbridge, Warren, Webster, West Boylston, West Brookfield, Westborough, Worcester

• MassHire Franklin Hampshire Workforce Board

  Towns: Amherst, Ashfield, Athol, Belchertown, Bernardston, Buckland, Charlemont, Chesterfield, Colrain, Conway, Cummington, Deerfield, Easthampton, Erving, Gill, Goshen, Granby, Greenfield, Hadley, Hatfield, Hawley, Heath, Huntington, Leverett, Leyden, Middlefield, Monroe, Montague, New Salem, Northampton, Northfield, Orange, Pelham, Petersham, Phillipston, Plainfield, Rowe, Royalston, Shelburne, Shutesbury, South Hadley, Southampton, Sunderland, Ware, Warwick, Wendell, Westhampton, Whately, Williamsburg, Worthington

• MassHire Greater Lowell Workforce Board

  Towns: Billerica, Chelmsford, Dracut, Dunstable, Lowell, Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, Westford

• MassHire Hampden County Workforce Board, Inc.

  Towns: Agawam, Blandford, Brimfield, Chester, Chicopee, East Longmeadow, Granville, Hampden, Holland, Holyoke, Longmeadow, Ludlow, Monson, Montgomery, Palmer, Russell, Southwick, Springfield, Tolland, Wales, West Springfield, Westfield, Wilbraham

• MassHire Merrimack Valley Workforce Board

  Towns: Amesbury, Andover, Boxford, Georgetown, Groveland, Haverhill, Lawrence, Merrimac, Methuen, Newbury, Newburyport, North Andover, Rowley, Salisbury, West Newbury

• MassHire North Central Workforce Board

  Towns: Ashburnham, Ashby, Ayer, Barre, Berlin, Bolton, Clinton, Fitchburg, Gardner, Groton, Harvard, Hubbardston, Lancaster, Leominster, Lunenburg, Pepperell, Princeton, Shirley, Sterling, Templeton, Townsend, Westminster, Winchendon

• MassHire SouthShore Workforce Board

  Towns: Braintree, Carver, Cohasset, Duxbury, Halifax, Hanover, Hingham, Holbrook, Hull, Kingston, Marshfield, Middleborough, Milton, Norwell, Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton, Quincy, Randolph, Rockland, Scituate, Weymouth

• MassHire-North Shore Workforce Board

  Towns: Beverly, Danvers, Essex, Gloucester, Hamilton, Ipswich, Lynn, Lynnfield, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Marblehead, Middleton, Nahant, Peabody, Rockport, Salem, Saugus, Swampscott, Topsfield, Wenham

• Metro North Regional Employment Board

  Towns: Arlington, Belmont, Burlington, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Medford, Melrose, North Reading, Reading, Revere, Somerville, Stoneham, Wakefield, Watertown, Wilmington, Winchester, Winthrop, Woburn

• Metro South/West Workforce Board, Inc.

  Towns: Acton, Ashland, Bedford, Bellingham, Boxborough, Brookline, Canton, Carlisle, Concord, Dedham, Dover, Foxborough, Framingham, Franklin, Holliston, Hopkinton, Hudson, Lexington, Lincoln, Littleton, Marlborough, Maynard, Medfield, Medway, Millis, Natick, Needham, Newton, Norfolk, Norwood, Plainville, Sharon, Sherborn, Southborough, Stow, Sudbury, Walpole, Waltham, Wayland, Wellesley, Weston, Westwood, Wrentham

All Massachusetts boards and 24 job centers