No warning is required.  In practice it depends mostly on the size of the company and the size of the layoffs...  I think most companies would like to layoff without warning, but that&#x27;s not always practical.  It also depends on if they are hoping to reduce headcount in general, in which case they may make a general offer of some money if employees leave...  this isn&#x27;t generally a viable strategy if it&#x27;s e.g. a division that&#x27;s being closed.<p>If the company isn&#x27;t in dire financial straits, it&#x27;s common to give some severance pay, usually tied to length of employment.  This isn&#x27;t a requirement.<p>With the US&#x27;s ridiculous system of getting most health insurance through your employer, it does mean that you lose many of those health benefits.  There is a legal provision called COBRA where you can continue for a time on your previous employer&#x27;s health care (at your expense).  The ACA (Obamacare) makes losing your health insurance less dire than it was in the past (for things like &quot;pre-existing conditions&quot;), but it still sucks.