The amended Trade Act of 1974 offers Federal help
to U.S. workers who are significantly harmed by U.S. trade
policies. This law allows workers to apply for "trade adjustment
assistance'' (TAA) if they lose their jobs or have less work
because increased imports are directly competitive with or like
those produced by their company.
What Benefits And Programs Does TAA Offer?
Trade adjustment assistance includes:
- Reemployment services,
- Job search allowances,
- Relocation allowances,
- Funded training,
- Weekly trade readjustment allowances for
eligible workers who exhaust their unemployment insurance
benefits,
and
- Additional trade readjustment allowances
while workers are in training.
A. Re-employment Services
Reemployment services are counseling,
vocational testing, labor market information, job-search
assistance, placement and other support services (including
child care) provided for under any other Federal law.
B. Job Search Allowances
A job search allowance
covers expenses you incurred while seeking employment
outside your normal commuting area. Only travel within the
United States is authorized.
These allowances are available to
certified workers who are laid off and can't find suitable
employment within their job commuting area: This allowance
may be equal to 90% of necessary job search expenses-such as
transportation and living expenses- up to a maximum amount
of $800. The Labor Department is required to reimburse
workers for necessary expenses incurred to participate in an
approved job search program.
TIME LIMITS: You must apply for job
search allowances (1) within 1 year after your
certification or last total layoff, whichever is later, or
(2) within 6 months after you complete approved
training. It's important that you visit your designated
agency and file an application before you begin searching
for work outside your normal commuting area.
C. Relocation Allowances
A relocation allowance
provides financial assistance to a totally laid-off worker
to move to a new area of employment. Relocation allowances
are available to certified workers who have obtained
employment
D. Funded Training
Local TAA staff will advise you about (1) the
employment outlook, (2) the kinds of work best fitted to your
aptitudes and employment interests, and (3) related training
opportunities that may be available at no cost to you. Training
opportunities include on-the-job training and vocational,
technical and remedial classroom training.
Funded training-preferably on-the-job
training-may be approved for a worker if all of the following
six conditions are met:
(1) There's no suitable employment
available.
(2) The worker would benefit from
appropriate training.
(3) There's a reasonable expectation of
employment after the training is completed.
(4) Approved training is reasonably
available from government agencies or private sources.
(5) The worker is qualified to undertake
and complete such training.
(6) The training is suitable for the
worker and available at a reasonable cost.
If training is approved, you'll be entitled to
receive payment of the costs- either directly or through a
voucher system-unless costs have been paid or are reimbursable
under another Federal law. Costs for on-the-job training are
payable only if the training is not at the expense of
other currently employed workers. Remedial education is a
separate and distinct category of training.
Any time the six criteria for approval are
reasonably met, approved training is an entitlement. NOTE:
Duplicate payment of training cost is prohibited.
When training is not within the worker's
commuting distance, supplemental assistance is available.
These funds are intended to help cover reasonable transportation
and living expenses for separate maintenance where the training
is given. Supplemental assistance is
payment equal to
whichever cost is lower: the actual daily (per diem) expenses or
50% of the prevailing Federal per diem rates for subsistence
(food, lodging, etc.) and mileage. Check with your designated
State agency for details.
(1) Be "adversely affected" by increased imports as
described earlier,
(2) Be covered by a group certification,
(3) File an application for TRA at the designated State
agency, and
(4) Meet the five specific requirements described below.
1.
Your first qualifying total job loss happened on or after
the certification's impact
date and before its termination or expiration date. -
2. All of the following apply. You worked:
(a) at least 26 weeks
(b) at wages of $30 or more per week,
(c) in a job that meets the criteria for "adversely
affected,"
(d) with a single firm Or subdivision,
(e) during the 52-week period ending with the week you lost
your job.
3. You exhausted all your unemployment insurance benefits,
including any extended benefits or Federal Supplemental
Compensation (FSC), and don't have an unexpired waiting
period for any unemployment insurance.
4. You're either (a) enrolled in or (b) have completed
within the certification period an approved training
program, unless your designated State agency
certifies in writing that it's "not feasible or
appropriate" to approve training. This certification waives
the requirement for individual training.
5. You can't be disqualified for extended benefits for any
week of unemployment because of the work acceptance or job
search
requirements. This means that all applicants for TRA must
meet the same "suitable work test" that applies to people
who claim extended unemployment benefits: They must
register for work, be actively engaged in seeking work, and
be willing to accept an offer of suitable employment.
TRA Cash Benefit Levels
If you qualify for TRA, the weekly cash amount of the
allowance will generally equal the most recent weekly
unemployment insurance benefit you were receiving before you
exhausted such benefits. To be eligible for TRA, you must
first use up your rights to Unemployment insurance.
Your TRA benefits will be
reduced by earnings or other income you receive in the same way
that they would have reduced your weekly unemployment benefits.
Your TRA will also be reduced by the amount of any other Federal
training allowance you're entitled to receive for the same week.
TRA Eligibility Period
If you qualify for TRA, you
won't be eligible to receive the allowance until at least 60
days after the filing date on your certified group petition.
You're eligible for basic TRA benefits for a total of 104
weeks. The eligibility period begins the first week following
the week when you lost your job the most recent time (within the
certification period). As mentioned above, you must exhaust all
allowable unemployment insurance benefits before you're entitled
to receive TRA benefits.
There's a maximum amount of
TRA benefits you may receive during this period. It's limited to
52 times your weekly TRA amount, minus all unemployment
insurance benefits that you were entitled to receive. For
example, if you received 26 weeks of regular unemployment
benefits and 14 weeks of extended unemployment benefits, you may
receive up to 12 weeks of TRA benefits (52 weeks-26 weeks-14
weeks = 12 weeks). What if you (1) return to Work covered by the
same certification, (2) are laid off again within the
certification period, and (3) meet the wage qualifying
requirements again? The 104-week eligibility period will be
recalculated, beginning with the first week after your latest
job loss.
In all cases involving
extended compensation benefits, unemployment insurance and TRA
payments combined are limited to a maximum of 52 weeks. This
means that a worker who received 52 weeks of unemployment
insurance benefits would not be entitled to basic TRA.
NOTE:
Workers who participate in on-the-job training
cannot receive TRA benefits.
OJT participants are paid wages. (See section below for more
information about TRA and training.)
F. Additional TRA For Workers In Training
Additionally trade readjustment allowances are weekly
benefits paid to eligible workers to help them complete their
approved training programs. You may be able to receive up to 26
additional weeks of TRA benefits if you apply for approved
training within a certain time period. That period is within 210
days after (1) your group certification date or (2) the date of
your first total or partial separation from work - whichever
came later. For you to receive the additional TRA benefits, you
must need them to complete the approved training program. You're
eligible for those additional benefits only for the weeks during
which you participate in approved training.
If you participate in approved training, you'll continue to
receive basic or additional TRA benefits during breaks in the
training if:
(1) The break is no longer than 14
days,
(2) You were participating in
training before the break began,
(3) You resume training after the
break ends, and
(4) The break is provided for in
the training schedule.
Weeks when TRA is not payable because of this
break provision count against the eligibility period for both
basic and additional TRA.
What are My Appeal Rights?
You have the right to appeal an unfavorable
decision about eligibility for TAA benefits. The procedure
depends on whether you're appealing your group petition or
appealing your individual application for allowances and
training. Both procedures are described below.
Individual Eligibility
If you're not satisfied with the results of
your individual application for TAA allowances and training, you
can appeal the decision. Your appeal rights are the same as
those provided by your State unemployment compensation law.
When you receive a "determination notice" in
response to your application, it will explain your appeal rights
and time limits for filing an appeal.
Right To Representation
It's important for you to know that whenever
you appeal a decision about TAA benefits, you have the right to
be represented by your union, a lawyer, or some other person to
help present the facts.
What other Trade Adjustment Assistance Is
Available?
The North American Free Trade Agreement
Transitional Adjustment Assistance Program (NAFTA-TAA) helps
thousands of U.S. workers who lose their job as a result of the
North American Free Trade Act. It's intended to help lessen job
loss conditions caused by the adverse impact of imports from
Mexico or Canada or shifts in production by workers' firms away
from the United States to Mexico or Canada.
You may be certified for both NAFTA-TAA and
TAA. Even if you're eligible for both programs, however, you're
allowed to enroll in only one of them. You can't draw
benefits from both TAA and NAFTA-TAA at the same time. You must
choose which program you want to enroll in. If you're certified
for both TAA and NAFTA-TAA, it's generally to your advantage to
enroll in TAA.
