MacISAAC

The California Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (the California WARN Act) (Lab. Code, § 1400 et seq.) forbids an employer from ordering a “mass layoff” unless the employer gives 60 days’ notice to the employees affected by the order and to various government entities. (§ 1401, subd. (a).) This appeal requires us to determine whether there has been a “mass layoff” within the meaning of the California WARN Act where employees are transferred from one employer to another for whom they perform the same work at the same rates of pay and with whom they retain the same benefits. We conclude, as did the trial court, that under the facts of this case, there was no “mass layoff” triggering the notice requirements of the California WARN Act. We will therefore affirm the trial court’s judgment.

Factual and Procedural Background

Waste Management Collection and Recycling, Inc., doing business as Empire Waste Management, Inc. (Empire Waste), is a company that provides refuse collection, disposal, and recycling services. Prior to February 1, 2003, Empire Waste had a contract to provide these services to the City of Santa Rosa (the City) through December 31, 2006. In…