Mars Wrigley, the maker of M&M’s, began laying off 307 workers at its Newark, New Jersey, operation on October 16. The cuts were flagged three months ahead, in a notice the state posted in July under its mass-layoff law. Neither the filing nor the state list gives a reason for the cuts.
The July notice and the October date
New Jersey’s 2026 WARN notice archive lists the employer as Mars WrigleyConfectionary US, LLC, with the location Newark, the month posted as July, an effective date of 10/16/26 and 307 affected workers. The archive carries no street address, county or reason.
A News 12 New Jersey report on the filing, dated July 19, says the layoffs were scheduled to begin October 16. It adds that the filing “does not provide additional details regarding the reason for the layoffs.”
The gap between the posting and the effective date is the story. With about three months between the July posting and the October date, workers had time to plan, which is the point of an advance-notice law. It also means the first paychecks were lost nine days ago, and that people laid off then are already in the middle of their first month of claims.
The state list does not say whether all 307 positions ended on October 16 or whether the layoffs roll out in stages. No company statement accompanies the listing. The count and the date are the only firm facts.
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The same archive carries a separate October entry for Mars Information Services in Newark, affecting 55 workers with an effective date of January 31, 2027. The state lists it under a different employer name, and nothing in the archive ties it to the Wrigley notice. Readers should not add the two together.
What 307 laid-off workers can claim in New Jersey
New Jersey sets the 2026 maximum weekly unemployment benefit at $905, up from $875 in 2025, according to the state’s benefit calculator page. The weekly rate is 60 percent of the claimant’s average weekly wage in the base year, capped at that maximum. The most anyone can collect in a benefit year is $23,530, which is 26 weeks at the top rate.
Most Newark workers will not reach the cap. A worker who averaged $1,000 a week in the base year would see a weekly benefit near $600, and a worker at $1,500 or more would hit the $905 limit. Those are illustrations of the state’s 60 percent formula, not figures from the Mars filing.
Identity verification comes first on the state’s unemployment site. The page says identity must be verified before claims are reviewed and benefits are released. Claimants who have not signed in for a year must create a new account, and an in-person appointment at a One-Stop Career Center is another route.
The Labor Department’s WARN page says the department offers Rapid Response services at no cost. Those include an explanation of unemployment insurance and help with claims, reemployment and job referrals, training assistance and job fair help. The same page says the department has neither enforcement nor rulemaking power under the WARN law.
The WARN page describes who must be told when a company files. Notice goes to the affected employees, any union representatives, the state Labor Department through its online portal, and the chief elected official of the local government where the site sits. The page notes that the law changed effective April 10, 2023, and that the federal rule can apply to employers with 100 or more employees.
The department also points employers to a Shared Work Program, which lets workers with reduced hours collect short-time unemployment benefits while keeping health insurance and pension coverage. Nothing in the Mars listing says that option was used. It is a reminder that the 307 cuts were a choice among tools, and that the state published only the outcome.
The enforcement limit matters. The state collects and posts notices and runs Rapid Response, but it does not decide whether an employer owed workers anything beyond the notice. Questions about severance, final pay and health coverage go to the employer, and the filing and archive state none of those terms for the Mars layoffs.
Why the bills do not wait for the claim
A Newark household that lost a Mars paycheck on October 16 has already seen at least one pay period without it. The state sets the weekly amount from wages reported by past employers, so a worker has to file to learn it. Rent, utilities and the November heating bills do not pause during that wait.
The other New Jersey notices in the archive show how many workers are in the same position. Novartis in East Hanover listed 322 workers with an effective date of October 2, and Verizon in Basking Ridge listed 282 effective October 16. Samsung Electronics America in Englewood Cliffs listed 739 effective September 30.
Each of those households faces the same three questions: how much the claim pays, how long it lasts, and what else is available while it does. Unemployment insurance answers the first two. The third depends on programs that cover food, heating, medical premiums and property taxes, each of which has to be applied for separately.
The Mars notice gave Newark workers a window that most layoffs do not. What remains open is whether a household used the three months to line up the programs that outlast the first paycheck gap.
Did the Newark layoff reach a household’s benefits yet?
A Newark household that lost a Mars paycheck on October 16 is likely to check one program, unemployment insurance, and stop. Food help, heating assistance and medical-premium relief each have a separate application and an income limit, and a household that waits learns about them after the bills are due.
This story is about a layoff notice, and The Benefits Checklist is a related job: it covers the household costs a lost paycheck puts at risk. It scans 11 benefit programs retirees most often miss, lists the 2026 income limits and includes a 50-state phone directory, so a laid-off worker can see which numbers to call first.
Get the 11-program benefits checklist with state phone directory →
More Financial Reading
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- 15 Places to Find Your Share of the $4.25 Billion States Give Back
- 21 Ways Retirees Can Raise $1,000 Fast Without a Job
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
