New York State has toughened a federal law that protects workers from unexpected mass lay off notices. The State Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act was signed into law by Governor David Paterson and will now require businesses with 50 or more employees to notify workers and the Department of labor 90 days before a plant is closed or mass layoffs are to be executed. The federal law applies to businesses with 100 or more employees and only calls for 60 days notice.