Capitol Castings Inc. V. Arizona Department Of Economic Security

This case arose when an employer closed one of its plants and chose to pay laid-off employees their usual salaries for 60 days after their last day of work rather than provide the 60-day notice of plant closing required by the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, 29 U.S.C.A. §§ 2101-09 (1989) (WARN).*fn1 The issue is whether the payments to the employees constitute "wages" for purposes of state unemployment compensation benefits. See Ariz.Rev.Stat.Ann. ("A.R.S.") § 23-622 A (1990). We conclude the payments are not wages and therefore affirm the decision of the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board finding the employees eligible to receive unemployment compensation for the 60-day period following the plant closure.