House Bill 1169 would require N.C. employers to give an additional 30 days notice prior to mass layoffs and plant closings, in addition to the 60-day federal requirement, under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act for large employers (100 or more workers).
Commerce Committee discussion questioned the bill’s friendliness to business, whether these kinds of regulations would impede the economic recovery. Some compared an employee’s two-week notice with the 90-day company notice this bill would require. Unions support this bill. An Employee Association representative says this bill is bad for business and bad for business investment.
It looks as if the bill is in trouble. In an effort to keep it alive, bill sponsor Rep. Rick Glazier, D-Cumberland, suggests a motion to move the bill without prejudice to the Judiciary II Committee. That motion fails, so the bill dies in the Commerce Committe.
Hopefully, the question of impact on business will continue to be raised as other bills and issues are considered. If an economic recovery is to expected, government has got to get out of the way and get business moving again.
