EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING
ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
AUTHORIZATION:
Trade Act of 1974, Title II, Public Law 93-618, 88 Stat.
1979, 19 U.S.C. 2271-2322, as amended; Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of
1981, Title XXV, Public Law 97-35, as amended; Miscellaneous Revenue Act of
1983, Public Law 97-362, as amended; Amendment to the International Coffee
Agreement Act of 1980, Public Law 98-120, as amended; Deficit Reduction Act of
1984, Public Law 98-369, as amended, Public Law 99-190; Third Continuing
Resolution for Fiscal Year 1986 Funds, as amended; Consolidated Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1985, Title XIII, Public Law 99-272; Omnibus Trade and
Competitiveness Act of 1988, Title I, Public Law 100-418; North American Free
Trade Agreement Implementation Act, Title V, Public Law 103-182; Consolidated
Appropriations Act of 2000, Public Law 106-113.
To provide adjustment assistance to workers adversely
affected by increased imports which will assist them into suitable employment.
TYPES OF ASSISTANCE:
Direct Payments with Unrestricted Use. Place Cursor Here for Definition
Provision of Specialized Services. Place Cursor Here for Definition
USES AND USE RESTRICTIONS:
State Employment Security Agencies (SESA's) serve as
agents of the United States for administering the worker adjustment assistance
benefit provisions of the Trade Act. SESA's, through the local offices,
provide testing, counseling, and job placement services; job search and
relocation assistance; training; and payment of weekly trade readjustment
allowances (TRA). State unemployment compensation and extended benefits must
be exhausted before TRA is paid to eligible claimants. Trade impacted workers
are eligible to receive job search and relocation allowances in addition to
the costs of training. They may be paid subsistence and transportation
allowances to attend approved training outside the normal commuting distance
of a worker's regular place of residence.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
Applicant Eligibility: I.
Petitions for trade adjustment assistance must be filed with the Secretary of
Labor by a group of three or more workers or by their certified or recognized
union or by an official of the workers' firm. Notice of such filing shall be
promptly published in the Federal Register. Within 10 days after publication,
the petitioner or any other person found by the Secretary to have a
substantial interest may request a hearing and be afforded the opportunity to
be present, to present evidence, and to be heard. The Secretary shall
determine whether the petitioning group meets the requirements and may issue a
certification of eligibility to apply for adjustment assistance. For workers
to be eligible to apply for adjustment assistance, the Department of Labor
must determine that: 1) A significant number or proportion of workers in such
workers' firm, or subdivision of the firm, have become totally or partially
separated, or are threatened to become totally or partially separated; 2)
sales or production, or both, of such firm have decreased absolutely; and 3)
increases of imports like or directly competitive with articles produced by
such workers' firm were an important cause (increased imports must contribute
importantly but not necessarily more importantly than any other cause) of such
total or partial separation, or threat thereof and to such decline in sales or
production. II. Petitions for North American Free Trade Agreement Transitional
Adjustment Assistance (NAFTA- TAA) must be filed with the Governor, or the
Governor's designated representative, of the State where the petitioners' firm
is located by a group of three or more workers (including workers in any
agricultural firm or subdivision of an agricultural firm), a union
representative, a company official, or a duly authorized representative,
including community-based organizations. NAFTA-TAA petitioners are afforded
the same rights as TAA petitioners to request a hearing to present evidence
relevant to their petition. Upon receipt of a NAFTA-TAA petition, the Governor
shall notify the Secretary that the State has received the petition. Within
ten (10) days, the Governor will transmit a preliminary finding to the
Secretary as to whether the petition meets the criteria that: 1) employment at
the petitioners' firm has declined; 2) sales or production has declined
absolutely; and either 3) imports of like or directly competitive articles
from Mexico or Canada have increased, or 4) there has been a shift in
production of articles from the workers' firm or subdivision to Mexico or
Canada. Within 30 days from the receipt of the preliminary finding, the
Secretary shall determine whether increased imports contributed importantly to
worker separations and issue a determination as to whether the petitioners
meet the group eligibility requirements for NAFTA-TAA.
Beneficiary Eligibility: A
TAA beneficiary must: 1) be found by the Labor Department to have been
adversely affected by increased imports, 2) be certified by the Secretary of
Labor as eligible to apply for adjustment assistance, and 3) meet the
following individual requirements: 1) his or her unemployment or
underemployment must have begun on or after the impact date specified in the
Secretary's certification as the beginning of the import-impacted unemployment
or underemployment; 2) his or her unemployment must begin before the
expiration of the 2-year period beginning on the date on which the Secretary
issued the certification for his or her group or before the termination date,
if any, specified in the certification. In addition, to be eligible for weekly
trade readjustment allowance (TRA) payments her or she must: 1) have been
employed with wages at a minimum of $30 per week by the import-affected firm
for a least 26 of the previous 52 weeks including the week of total layoff (up
to 7 weeks of employer- authorized leave may be counted as qualifying weeks of
employment or up to 26 weeks of disability compensation); and 2) be enrolled
in or have completed an approved job training program, unless the
determination is made that training is either not feasible or not appropriate,
in which case a waiver of the training requirement may be issued. II.
Individual eligibility requirements for NAFTA-TAA are similar to the TAA
requirements described, except that when authorized payment of TRA, the State
cannot issue a waiver of the training requirement if the State finds that
training is not feasible or appropriate. To receive TRA, the claimant must be
enrolled in an approved training program within 6 weeks of the Secretary's
issuance of the certification or within 16 weeks of the worker's most recent
qualifying separation, whichever is later.
Pre-application Coordination:
None. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.
Application Procedure: To
apply for TAA under the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, a "Petition for
Trade Adjustment Assistance" must be filed directly with the Division of
Trade Adjustment Assistance at the address listed below. To apply for
NAFTA-TAA under the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, a "Petition of NAFTA
Transitional Adjustment Assistance" must be filed directly with the State
official or organization designated by the Governor of the State in which the
workers' firm or subdivision is located. Petitioners may file petitions for
both programs if they wish. Copies of the petition forms, in both English and
Spanish, are available through the State Employment Security Agencies or from
the headquarter Division listed below. The Petition forms may also be
downloaded from our web-site at: http://www.doleta.gov/.
Award Procedure: A
Certification of Eligibility to apply for adjustment assistance may be issued
by the Secretary of Labor to groups
Deadlines: None.
Range of Approval/Disapproval Time:
I. For the regular TAA program, eligibility investigations begun by the
receipt of a valid petition are completed, and a determination issued, within
60 calendar days of the receipt of the petition. II. For NAFTA-TAA, the
determination is issued within 40 days after receipt of the petition by the
Governor's agent: 10 days for processing by the State and an additional 30
days for the Department of Labor.
Appeals: There are two
courses of appeal, one administrative and the other judicial. Petitioners
aggrieved by a final determination by the Secretary may, within 30 days after
notice of such determination is published in the Federal Register, file an
application for reconsideration with the Division of Trade Adjustment
Assistance. If the determination following reconsideration is negative, they
may, within 60 days after notice of the negative determination upon
reconsideration, file a petition for review of such determination with the
United States Court of International Trade in New York City. Aggrieved
petitioners may request judicial appeal without first seeking administrative
reconsideration, within 60 days after notice of such determination is
published in the Federal Register.
Renewals: None.
ASSISTANCE CONSIDERATIONS:
Formula and Matching Requirements:
Not applicable.
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance:
Cash trade readjustment allowances (TRA) become payable only after workers
have exhausted their entitlement to State unemployment compensation including
extended benefits. The maximum number of weeks of State unemployment
compensation, extended benefits and trade readjustment allowances cannot
exceed 52 weeks except that up to 26 additional weeks may be paid to workers
while participating in approved training.
POST ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Reports: Not applicable.
Audits: Not applicable.
Records: Not applicable.
FINANCIAL INFORMATION:
Account Identification:
16-0326-0-1-999.
Obligations: (TRA Payments)
FY 01 $278,807,000; FY 02 and FY 03 estimates not available. (Reemployment
Services--training, job search and relocation obligation and related
administrative costs): FY 01 $127,410,000; FY 02 and FY 03 estimates Not
available.
Range and Average of Financial Assistance:
Weekly allowance payments are the same as the amount of weekly State
unemployment compensation.
From April 1975 through September 2001, the Department
of Labor issued certifications in 23,944 cases involving 3,218,861 workers.
(These figures are continuously revised to account for actual experience and
include both TAA and NAFTA-TAA.)
REGULATIONS, GUIDELINES, AND LITERATURE:
Regulations at 29 CFR 90, Certification of Eligibility
to Apply for Worker Adjustment Assistance, and 20 CFR 617, Trade Adjustment
Assistance for Workers.
INFORMATION CONTACTS:
Regional or Local Office:
Regional offices of the Employment and Training Administration, Department of
Labor listed in Appendix IV, and local offices of affiliated State Employment
Security Agencies.
Headquarters Office: Edward
A. Tomchick, Director, Division of Trade Adjustment Assistance, Employment and
Training Administration, Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW.,
Room C-5311, Washington, DC 20210. Telephone: (202) 693-3560.
