Double M Orchards Files 220-Worker WARN Notice in Quincy, Washington

Double M Orchards has filed a WARN notice covering 220 workers in Quincy, Washington, with an effective date of December 18, 2026. The notice is dated October 28, 2026, according to the latest Layoff Atlas registry data. It is the largest fresh filing on the national homepage in this run's check, ahead of a 159-worker Comcast filing in Washington and a 44-worker UMOS filing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Quincy sits in Grant County in central Washington, where agriculture and food processing are major employers. A filing of this size matters locally: 220 reported workers is a large single notice for one employer in one town, and the December effective date puts it in the pre-holiday layoff calendar.

The filing at a glance

  • Employer: Double M Orchards
  • Location: Quincy, Washington
  • Reported workers: 220
  • Notice date: October 28, 2026
  • Effective date: December 18, 2026
  • Notice period: 51 days between the notice date and the effective date

These figures describe reported plans, not confirmed job losses. WARN notices are advance notifications of qualifying mass layoffs and plant closures filed with state labor agencies. A filing can be amended, delayed, or reduced before the effective date, and the registry counts notices rather than unique people.

The 51-day gap, explained carefully

The federal WARN Act generally requires covered employers to give 60 days' advance notice of a qualifying plant closing or mass layoff. The gap between October 28 and December 18 is 51 days, which is nine days short of that 60-day standard.

That comparison alone does not prove a violation. Whether the federal 60-day rule applies to a particular filing depends on coverage questions the registry record does not answer on its own: whether the employer meets the 100-full-time-employee threshold, whether the event meets the definition of a plant closing or mass layoff, and whether any exception applies. State rules can also differ. The honest reading is narrower: workers and readers should note the 51-day window, and anyone affected should check the full notice and their own rights rather than assume a legal conclusion from the dates alone.

Washington's record puts the filing in a busy state picture: 1,528 non-cancelled imported notices reporting 249,913 workers across the full archive, with 48 future effective dates. In 2026 alone, the state has 133 notices reporting 28,515 workers.

Where this filing lands on the calendar

The broader calendar shows a heavy run into mid-November before easing in early December. The national upcoming-week totals are:

  • Week of October 30: 7,049 workers
  • Week of November 6: 3,302 workers
  • Week of November 13: 8,793 workers
  • Week of November 20: 7,181 workers
  • Week of November 27: 5,778 workers
  • Week of December 4: 1,708 workers

The six-week total is 33,811 workers. November 13 remains the heaviest upcoming week, followed by November 20. A December 18 effective date falls just after that six-week window, extending the season of scheduled layoffs into the week before Christmas.

The national picture behind the filing

Nationally, the Layoff Atlas registry currently shows 678 notices and 65,927 reported workers in its 90-day notice window, with 29 worker counts unavailable. California leads the state ranking with 17,715 reported workers, followed by Washington with 17,361, Illinois with 4,385, Texas with 3,280, and Georgia with 2,492. California and Washington together account for just over half of all reported workers in the window, so a large Washington filing like Double M Orchards fits the current concentration rather than breaking it.

That ranking reflects reported notices in connected sources, not a census of all layoffs: coverage and reporting rules vary by state, and totals exclude records where no count was reported.

What workers in a WARN filing can check

If you are covered by a notice like this one, a few practical steps come before any legal question:

  • Confirm the notice details with the state labor agency that published it, including the exact effective date and whether the filing has been amended.
  • Ask the employer, in writing, about final pay timing, accrued benefits, and any severance or separation terms. WARN is a notice law, not a payment law, so pay and severance depend on separate rules and agreements.
  • File for unemployment benefits promptly and contact the state's Rapid Response team, which provides free reemployment help after qualifying layoffs.
  • Keep copies of the notice, pay records, and any separation documents. If the notice period looks short, those records are what any later review would need.

None of this replaces legal advice. Workers who believe notice was too short can speak to an employment lawyer or their union representative, who can assess coverage and exceptions on the full facts.

Why this filing is worth watching

Most WARN filings cover roughly 100 workers or fewer, so a 220-worker filing from a single orchard employer in a small central Washington town is a meaningful local event, even if it barely moves the statewide total. It arrives alongside Comcast's 159-worker statewide record effective December 31, 2026, suggesting the state's December calendar is still filling in.

Watch for amendments: agricultural staffing can change with harvest and packing schedules, and WARN records are sometimes updated before the effective date.

Data source: Layoff Atlas