Trade Adjustment Assistance helps trade-affected workers who have lost their jobs as a result of increased imports or shifts in production out of the United States.  Trade Adjustment Assistance program services and benefits are provided to help eligible workers get back to work.  To obtain Trade Adjustment Assistance reemployment services and benefits, the group of workers must first file a petition with the U.S. Department of Labor's Division of Trade Adjustment Assistance (DTAA) requesting certification as workers adversely affected by foreign trade.  If the petition is certified, each worker in the group must then apply for individual services and benefits through their local One-Stop Career Center to determine individual eligibility for reemployment services and benefits.

A petition may be filed by a group of three or more workers, by a company official, by One-Stop operators or partners (including state employment security agencies and dislocated worker units), or by a union or other duly authorized representative of such workers.  The workers on whose behalf a petition is filed must be, or have been, employed at the firm or subdivision identified on the petition.  Worker's employment must be, or have been, related to the production of articles (products) described in the petition.

Trade Adjustment Petition Process

1. A group of three or more workers, a company official, a union or other dually authorized representative, or a One-Stop operator can file a petition with the U.S. Department of Labor's Division of Trade Adjustment Assistance and the Trade Adjustment Assistance Coordinator of Dislocated Worker Unit of the state in which the employer is located.

2. After investigating the petition, which can take typically 40 days, Department of Labor's Division of Trade Adjustment Assistancecertifies or denies eligibility to apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance services and benefits and notifies petitioners and a company official. 
 

• Certified workers individually apply for services through their local Career Centers

• Denied workers may appeal 

3.Workers must be enrolled in training 8 weeks after certification of 16 weeks after their last qualifying separation to receive Trade Readjustment Allowances benefits or a waiver of training enrollment must be granted by the state.

Based on individual eligibility, members of a Trade petition certified worker group may receive one or more of the following Reemployment Trade Services available at Kentucky Area Career Centers:

• Job Search Registration

• Employment Counseling

• Case Assessment

• Job Development

• Supportive Services

• Self-Directed Job Search Services

• Job Search Allowances: for costs of job search outside the local area (anything over 100 miles one way), reimbursement of 90% of the cost up to a maximum of $1,250.00.

• Relocation Allowances: for costs of relocating to a job outside of the local area (anything over 100 miles one way).  Three estimates are required from commercial carriers for household moving expenses.

• Trade Readjustment Allowance: Up to 104* weeks of cash payments for eligible workers enrolled in full-time training.

• Basic or remedial education (including literacy training and English as a Second Language) up to 26 additional weeks are available to workers who require remedial training.

• Training Services: Up to 104* weeks of approved training, including: Classroom training

• Employer-base training

* Workers must be enrolled in training 8 weeks after certification or 16 weeks after separation to receive or to be eligible for Trade Readjustment Allowance benefits, Health Care Tax Credit, or a waiver issued by Office of Employment and Training of training enrollment must be granted by the state.

 

Trade Adjustment Assistance - Health Care Tax Credit (Health Care Tax Credit)

Health Care Tax Credit assistance is available for Trade eligible individuals, who are of a Trade petition certified worker group:

• Health Insurance Coverage Assistance: Tax credits covering up to 65% of the monthly health insurance premium paid by an eligible participant.

Kentucky Health Care Tax Credit Bridge Grant Payment Form:

 

For further information, please contact:

Ruth Mayes
Health Care Tax Credit Specialist
Phone: 502-564-7456
E-mail: Ruth.Mayes@ky.gov

 

Kentucky's 'Health Insurance Assistance' program

The Kentucky Department for Workforce Investment received a federal grant to make the continuation of healthcare affordable for more workers certified under the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program.

• It will pay 65 percent of the cost of qualified health insurance coverage for up to three months.  The program will help to "bridge the gap" until the individual can complete the registration for the primary healthcare assistance (Health Care Tax Credit) that is administered by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

• Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield is offering Anthem Individual Blue Access TAA. Call (888) 482-6847.

• The registration form for both the Kentucky Health Insurance Assistance program and the IRS tax credit is available at the Office of Employment and Training One-Stop Career Centers.

• Kentucky's Health Insurance Assistance program and the IRS tax credit can be used to pay for other types of automatically qualified insurance including coverage under a COBRA continuation provision, a spouse's employer-sponsored plan, an individual's health insurance plan and state continuation coverage.

 

Trade Adjustment Assistance - Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance (ATAA)

Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistanceis designed to allow Trade Adjustment Assistance eligible workers for whom retraining may not be appropriate and who find reemployment to receive a wage subsidy when there is a salary gap between their old and new employment.  These claimants are eligible for the Health Coverage Tax Credit and Relocation Allowance, in addition to the Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance allowance.

For additional information, please contact:

Roanna Kirk
Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance Specialist
Phone: 502-564-7456
E-mail: Roanna.Kirk@ky.gov

Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance (ATAA) Certification Criteria:

• Eligibility: To receive Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance benefits, workers must be eligible for Trade Adjustment Assistance under an Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance certified petition

• A significant number of adversely affected workers in the petitioning workers' firm are 50 years of age or older.

• The adversely affected workers in the petitioning workers' firm possess job skills that are not easily transferable to other employment: and

• The competitive conditions within the affected workers' industry are adverse.

Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance (ATAA) Certification Individual's Criteria:

• Be at least age 50 at time of employment.

• Obtain full time reemployment (as determined by the employer) by the last day of the 26th week after the worker's qualifying separation from the Trade Adjustment Assistance/Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance certified employment.

• Must not be expected to earn more than $50,000 annually in gross wages (excluding overtime pay) from the reemployment.

• Cannot return to work to the employment from which the worker was separated.  Thus, the worker cannot return to the same division/facility that he/she was separated from nor can the worker do the same or similar work for the employer that he/she was separated from in another division/facility.

• Some restrictions may apply - for further important information on anything concerning ATAA, please visit your local Career Center.

• Application Process: Workers who seek the benefits and services available under the Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance program must file a regular Trade Adjustment Assistance petition and indicate on the form that the worker group request consideration for eligibility under the Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance program.

Are you considering a Layoff or Downsizing?  The Office of Employment and Training's Division of Workforce and Employment Services Rapid Response Team is a free onsite early intervention service offered to businesses and workers affected by layoffs and plant closings.

Trade Act Programs Contact Information

Division of Trade Adjustment Assistance:
United States Department of Labor
Employment and Training Administration
Division of Trade Adjustment Assistance
Room C-5311
200 Constitution Ave., N.W.
Washington, DC 20210
Phone: 202-693-3560
Fax: 202-693-3584 or 3585
Web: http://www.doleta.gov/tradeact/

Tom Dobson
Trade Coordinator
Phone: 502-564-7456
Fax: 502-564-7459
E-mail: Tom.Dobson@ky.gov

Local One Stop Career Center

To find the nearest One-Stop Career Center, State Trade Adjustment Assistance Coordinator, and Dislocated Workers Units, call 1-877-US2-JOBS,
1-877-889-5627 (TYY), or visit the America's Service Locator
Website at http://www.servicelocator.org