The Office of Management and Budget<\/a> (OMB) has issued a memorandum stating that they do not believe these notices should be issued. Please follow this link to read the entire memorandum<\/a>.<\/p>\n Some highlights from the memorandum:<\/p>\n DOL (Department of Labor<\/a>) concluded that it is neither necessary nor appropriate for Federal contractors to provide WARN Act<\/a> notice to employees 60 days in advance of the potential sequestration because of uncertainty about whether sequestration will occur and, if it did, what effect it would have on particular contracts, among other factors:<\/strong><\/p>\n Specifically, if (1) sequestration occurs and an agency terminates or modifies a contract that necessitates that the contractor order a plant closing or mass layoff ofa type subject to WARN Act requirements, and (2) that contractor has followed a course of action consistent with DOL guidance; then any resulting employee\u00b7 compensation costs for WARN Act liability as detennined by a court, as well as attoroeys’ fees and other litigation costs (irrespective of li tigation outcome), would qualify as allowable costs and be covered by the contracting agency, if otherwise reasonable and allocable.<\/strong><\/p>\n Translated into English, this says don’t send out the notices and the government will pay any legal penalties.<\/p>\n The Hill<\/a> reports:<\/p>\n \u201cThe Obama Administration is cynically trying to skirt the WARN Act to keep the American people in the dark about this looming national security and fiscal crisis,\u201d Sens. John McCain<\/a> (R-Ariz.), Lindsey Graham<\/a> (R-S.C.) and Kelly Ayotte<\/a> (R-N.H.) said in a statement. \u201cThe president should insist that companies act in accordance with the clearly stated law and move forward with the layoff notices.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n No one actually knows if sequestration will happen, but right now it is scheduled to happen. The law needs to be followed, regardless of the politics involved. The government is not supposed to be used as a campaign committee. This is totally over the top.<\/p>\n Sequestration is scheduled to occur on January 2, 2013. As usual, note that this is after the November election. Sequestration is essentially drastic cuts to government spending triggered by the fact that Congress was unable to reach a budget compromise. … Continue reading ![\"Enhanced](\"http:\/\/img.zemanta.com\/zemified_e.png?x-id=a8def626-c30d-4198-8c62-92adb3d5c553\")
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