While the New Jersey Warn Act resembles the federal Warn Act in many respects, it nonetheless has more stringent policies. For instance, the federal Warn Act requires that when 500 or more employees are about to be laid off at one location, they must receive 60 days notice. The penalty for not doing this is that employers would have to pay back pay to ensure that employees are paid for the full 60 days. Furthermore, the law did not go into effect until four months after it was signed. However, the New Jersey Warn Act became effective immediately. Penalties for violating it include the fines stipulated under federal law. In addition, an employer who does not give its employees proper notice must also pay its employees severance equal to one week of pay for each full year of employment.