Illumina California Layoffs 2026: What Employees Should Know

What the filing says

These are the details as Illuminareported them to the state. The EDD publishes every notice, and these figures come from the state's report as retrieved on Aug 13, 2026. All 9 are listed below; the table scrolls.

How much notice the law requires

California's WARN Act requires 60 days of advance written notice before a covered mass layoff, and its only statutory exception is a physical calamity or an act of war — far narrower than federal law's three. Who is covered and how the thresholds are counted is in our California WARN Act guide.

Illumina severance: what to check before you sign

A severance offer is not the notice pay the WARN Act describes. Severance you were already promised — in a contract, a handbook, or a union agreement — cannot be used to satisfy that obligation, though Labor Code section 1402 does let an employer reduce a back-pay award by voluntary payments it was never required to make. A release may also give up more than you expect. Justin reviews severance agreements before workers sign. What to check before you decide is in our full guide to the California WARN Act.

Two things worth doing this week either way. File for unemployment now — WARN money does not reduce it, and the filings here run through Mar 16, 2026, so you do not have to wait for your last day. And keep every document, including the notice itself and anything showing when it arrived.

What your notice was required to include

Timing is only half of what Labor Code section 1401 asks for. The notice itself has to contain specific things, and California added most of this list for notices issued on or after January 1, 2026. 2 of the 9 notices here fall after that date; the earlier ones were not subject to the new content rules. If you kept your copy, read it against the full six-item checklist in our WARN Act guide — everything federal law requires, whether transition help is being coordinated, working contact details for your workforce board and for the employer itself, and CalFresh information.

Source: Labor Code section 1401, as amended by SB 617, effective January 1, 2026. A notice missing something from that list is not automatically a violation with a remedy attached — whether a gap matters depends on the employer, the action, and what else happened.

Questions people are asking

Where a layoff can raise a legal question

A layoff is lawful on its own, and nothing below is a statement about Illumina. These are the places California law can still come into play, depending on the facts of your own situation.

• The severance you were asked to signA release can give up claims you did not know you had, and the terms are sometimes negotiable.
• How you were selectedA reduction in force still cannot be used to cut someone for a protected reason such as age, disability, pregnancy, or a complaint they made.
• Your final paycheckCalifornia sets when final wages are due at termination, and unpaid time or accrued vacation can carry penalties on top of the wages.
• The length of the notice periodWhere a notice period turns out to fall short of what the law required, the question usually belongs to everyone in the same position rather than to one person.

General information about California law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.

What the numbers show

• The 63 affected positions are in San Diego.
• The jobs do not all end on the same day. The filings list 8 separate last days of work, running from November 11, 2025 to March 16, 2026.
• At least one notice here is dated 3 days after the last day of work it reports. Notices are sometimes filed or amended after the fact, so this describes the paperwork rather than when anyone was told.
• The 63 workers leaving Illumina re-enter a job market where San Diego County unemployment stood at 4.4% in June 2026, below the 5.2% statewide rate (Bureau of Labor Statistics, not seasonally adjusted).
• The filings came in waves: 4 notices in November 2025 covering 47 jobs, then 3 notices in December 2025 covering 11 jobs, then 2 notices in January 2026 covering 5 jobs.

These are counts and comparisons drawn from the published filings, not findings about Illumina.

Other layoffs filed in San Diego County around the same time

67 employers have WARN notices on file in San Diego County, covering 6,193 workers. These filed within about a quarter of this one.

• Amazon6,975 workers
• Hilton San Diego Bayfront394 workers
• DexCom, Inc.319 workers
• FormFactor, Inc.220 workers
• Epic Lightning Fast Service LLC116 workers
• Best Buy106 workers

Listed because they appear in the same county in the same public data. No connection between these employers is implied.

California wage claims filed against Illumina

California employers face claims under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), which lets an employee sue for civil penalties over Labor Code violations on behalf of the state. The state publishes every filing. One PAGA case naming this employer is on that record, including the settlements below.

These are outcomes in other people’s cases, obtained by other lawyers, taken from the state’s public filing record. They are not results of this firm, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. What any individual recovers depends on their own hours, pay records, and dates.

• Court-approved settlement · 2026

  $2,100,000

  Current and former hourly-paid or non-exempt employees of Illumina, Inc. in California, including those hired through staffing agencies, will receive a share of PAGA penalties from a $2,100,000 settlement. The settlement resolves claims that the employer violated various Labor Code provisions. The court approved the settlement and found it fair, adequate, and reasonable. The employer does not admit any liability.

  Covered all current and former hourly-paid or non-exempt employees (whether hired directly or through staffing agencies) of Defendant within the State of California at any time during the period from November 2, 2019, through July 10, 2025. The settlement resolved PAGA civil penalties only.

  Employees covered

  1,581

  Attorneys' fees

  $567,000

  To the state (LWDA)

  $1,117,732

  Superior Court of the State of California, for the County of San Mateo · 21-CIV-00127 · Illumina denied liability; a settlement is not an admission.

A PAGA case is not a class action, and there is nothing to opt out of. A PAGA settlement resolves civil penalties owed to the state — most of which the state keeps — and it does not necessarily resolve your own unpaid wages, missed break premiums, or final-paycheck penalties. If you worked here and were not paid correctly, that is a separate question worth asking about. How California wage claims work.