Title 20
SECTION 618.110
618.110 Definitions.
§ 618.110 Definitions.The following definitions apply solely in this part.
Act means chapter 2 of title II of the Trade Act of 1974, Public Law 93-618, 88 Stat. 1978 (19 U.S.C. 2271-2323 and 2395), as amended.
Administrator means the Administrator, Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance, Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, DC, who has responsibility for administering the TAA Program, or his or her designee.
Adversely affected employment means employment in a firm or appropriate subdivision, if workers of the firm or appropriate subdivision are certified as eligible to apply for the TAA Program under subpart B of this part.
Adversely affected worker or AAW (also referred to, in combination with an AAIW, as a trade-affected worker) means an individual, including an employer, who, because of lack of work in adversely affected employment, has been totally or partially separated from such employment.
Adversely affected incumbent worker or AAIW (also referred to, in combination with an AAW, as a trade-affected worker) means a worker who:
(1) Is a member of a worker group certified as eligible to apply for the TAA Program under subpart B of this part;
(2) Has not been totally or partially separated from adversely affected employment; and
(3) The Department determines, on an individual basis, is threatened with total or partial separation.
Agent State means a State, other than a liable State, that provides benefits or services to a trade-affected worker. A State can be both an agent State and a liable State.
Applicable State law means, for any worker, the State law of the State:
(1) In which such worker is entitled to Unemployment Insurance (UI) (whether or not such worker has filed a UI claim) immediately following such worker's first separation; or
(2) If the worker is not so entitled to UI under the State law of any State immediately following such first separation, or is entitled to UI under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RRUI), the State law of the State in which such first separation occurred.
Appropriate subdivision means an establishment, facility or facilities, an organizational department, a product line, a project team, an operational unit, or part or combination thereof. The appropriate subdivision is determined on a case-by-case basis and includes all workers or a subset of workers working at, or reporting to, the location(s) identified in the petition, or subsequently identified during the course of the investigation, whose employment is dependent upon the production of the specific article or supply of the specific service identified in the petition, or identified during the course of the investigation.
Appropriate week means the week in which the AAW's first separation occurred.
Approved training or TAA approved training means a training program approved under subpart F of this part (§ 618.610).
Article means a tangible good or an intangible good sold or produced by a firm. The good must be the subject of the sale or production, and not an object that is produced incidentally to the sale or production. An article can be measured in individual production units or commercial production units, such as with commodities. Sale of an article is the means by which revenue is generated, accumulated, or calculated.
Average weekly hours means the average hours worked by an AAW (excluding overtime) in the employment from which the worker has been or claims to have been separated in the 52 consecutive calendar weeks (excluding weeks during which the worker was sick or on vacation) immediately preceding the worker's total separation or, for a partially separated worker, the week before the appropriate week. The average is obtained by dividing:
(1) Total hours worked (excluding overtime) in the 52 consecutive calendar weeks (excluding weeks in such period during which the worker was sick or on vacation); by
(2) The number of weeks in such 52 consecutive calendar weeks (excluding weeks in such period during which the worker was sick or on vacation).
Average weekly wage means one-thirteenth of the total wages paid to an AAW in the high quarter. For purposes of this computation, the high quarter is the quarter in which the worker's total wages were highest among the first 4 of the last 5 completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the week in which total separation occurred or, in cases where partial separation is claimed, the appropriate week.
Benefit period means, with respect to an AAW:
(1) The benefit year and any ensuing period, as determined under the applicable State law, during which the worker is eligible for regular compensation, additional compensation, or extended compensation; or
(2) The equivalent to such a benefit year or ensuing period provided for under Federal UI law.
Certification or affirmative determination or petition certification means a determination issued under § 618.235(a), or an amendment under § 618.250, of eligibility to apply for the TAA Program, with respect to a specified worker group of a firm or appropriate subdivision. Excluded from this definition are “certifications” in sections 223(d), 236(a)(5)(H), 239(a)(3), and 247(19) of the Act, and “affirmative determinations” in sections 222(e) and 224 of the Act.
Certification date or date of certification means the date on which the Certifying Officer signs the certification. This is the date that the certification takes effect.
Certification period means the period of time during which total, partial, or threat of separations from adversely affected employment within a firm or appropriate subdivision of a firm are covered by a certification for worker groups eligible to apply for assistance under section 222(a) and (b) of the Act. It also means the period of time during which total or partial separations from adversely affected employment within a firm are covered by a certification for worker groups eligible to apply for assistance under section 222(e) of the Act. The certification period begins on the impact date and, unless stated otherwise in the certification, ends 2 years after the certification date. A certification may expire sooner than 2 years after the certification date as a result of a termination under § 618.240, an amendment under § 618.250, or if a certification is based on a determination issued by the International Trade Commission (ITC) under section 222(e) of the Act.
Certifying Officer means an official, including the Administrator of the Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance, Employment and Training Administration, Department of Labor, who has been delegated responsibility to make determinations and issue certifications of eligibility to apply for the TAA Program, and to perform such further duties as may be required.
Co-enrollment means enrollment in the TAA Program and at least one other program that operates as part of the one-stop delivery system, such as the dislocated worker program under title I of WIOA.
Commission or International Trade Commission or ITC means the U.S. International Trade Commission.
Commuting area means the area in which a trade-affected worker would be expected to travel to and from work on a daily basis as determined under the applicable State law.
Completion of training or complete training or completed training means that the trade-affected worker has finished all required coursework (including required externships or internships), testing, and professional licensing exams related to TAA approved training.
Component part means an input (tangible or intangible article) that is directly incorporated into the production of another article, although it need not retain its original form or characteristics.
Confidential business information means trade secrets and commercial or financial information received by the Department, or by the States on the Department's behalf, during an investigation under subpart B of this part, which the Department considers to be privileged or confidential as set forth in the Trade Secrets Act (18 U.S.C. 1905), 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4), or 29 CFR part 70. It does not include publicly available business information, or business information with respect to which the firm or customer submitting the information had notice, at the time of submitting the information, that the information would be released by the Department or the States, or if the firm or customer subsequently consents to the release of the information.
Contributed importantly means a cause that is important but not necessarily more important than any other cause.
Cooperating State agency or CSA means the agency at the State level that will act as agent of the Department in receiving applications from and providing benefits and services to trade-affected workers in coordination with the State agency that administers the UI law, if applicable, and such other agency or agencies of the State as the Governor of the State may designate to cooperate with such CSA for performance accountability reporting and other purposes.
Customized training means work-based training that is:
(1) Designed to meet the special requirements of a single employer or group of employers;
(2) Conducted with a commitment by the employer or group of employers to employ a trade-affected worker upon successful completion of the training; and
(3) For which the employer pays for a significant portion (but in no case less than 50 percent) of the cost of such training.
Denial or negative determination or petition denial means a determination issued under § 618.235(b) that a group of workers is not eligible for TAA Program benefits.
Department of Labor or Department means the U.S. Department of Labor.
Downstream producer means a firm that performs additional, value-added production processes or services, such as final assembly, finishing, testing, packaging, or maintenance or transportation services. The value-added production processes or services must be performed directly for another firm that has a worker group certified to apply for the TAA Program under § 618.225, and the production processes or services must be carried out with respect to the article or service on which the certification under § 618.225 was based.
Eligible RTAA recipient means, for HCTC purposes (see definition of HCTC), an AAW eligible for RTAA and who is participating in RTAA for a month and is receiving an RTAA benefit for that month.
Eligible TAA recipient means, for HCTC purposes (see definition of HCTC), an AAW who receives TRA for any day of the month or who would be eligible to receive TRA but for the fact that the worker has not exhausted his or her UI entitlement.
Employer means any individual or type of organization, including the Federal Government, a State government, a political subdivision, or an instrumentality of one or more governmental entities, with one or more individuals performing service in employment for it within the United States.
Employment means any service performed for an employer by an officer of a corporation or by an individual for wages.
Enrolled in training means that a worker's application for training is approved by the State under subpart F of this part, and the training provider has furnished written notice to the State that the worker has been accepted in the approved training program, which is to begin within 30 calendar days of the date of such approval.
Exhaustion of UI means exhaustion of all rights to UI in a benefit period by reason of:
(1) Having received all UI to which a worker was entitled under the applicable State law or Federal unemployment compensation law with respect to such benefit period; or
(2) The expiration of such benefit period.
Family means the following members of an adversely affected worker's household whose principal place of abode is with the individual in a home the individual maintains or would maintain but for unemployment:
(1) Spouse;
(2) Domestic partner;
(3) Children of the adversely affected worker, of the worker's spouse, or of the worker's domestic partner, who are unmarried and under 21 years of age or who, regardless of age, are physically or mentally incapable of self-support. (The term “children” shall include natural offspring; stepchildren; adopted children; grandchildren, legal minor wards or other dependent children who are under legal guardianship of the worker, of the worker's spouse, or of the domestic partner; and an unborn child(ren) born and moved after the worker's effective date of transfer.);
(4) Dependent parents (including step and legally adoptive parents) of the worker, of the worker's spouse, or of the worker's domestic partner; and
(5) Dependent brothers and sisters (including step and legally adoptive brothers and sisters) of the worker, of the worker's spouse, or of the worker's domestic partner, who are unmarried and under 21 years of age or who, regardless of age, are physically or mentally incapable of self-support.
Filing date means the date on which the petition and attachments to the petition form are determined to be valid by the Department's Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance, in accordance with § 618.205.
Firm means an individual proprietorship, partnership, joint venture, association, corporation (including a development corporation), business trust, cooperative, trustee in bankruptcy, or receiver under decree of any court. A firm, together with any predecessor or successor-in-interest, or together with any affiliated firm controlled or substantially beneficially owned by substantially the same persons may be considered a single firm. Where the term “firm” appears in this part, it means “firm or appropriate subdivision.” Firm also means an agricultural firm or service sector firm or an appropriate subdivision thereof. For purposes of subpart B of this part only, firm does not include a public agency or any subdivision of a public agency, as defined in 29 U.S.C. 203(x).
First benefit period means the benefit period established after the AAW's first qualifying separation or in which such separation occurs.
Full-time training means:
(1) Attendance in training in accordance with the training provider's established full-time hours in a day (or credit hours) and days in a week; and
(2) In the last semester of training, if the remaining course(s) to complete the training approved under subpart F of this part do not meet the training provider's usual definition of full-time, States must consider the participation in training as full-time training, if no additional training or coursework will be required to complete the training program.
Group of workers means at least two workers employed or formerly employed by the same firm, or an appropriate subdivision thereof, including teleworkers and staffed workers, who file a petition for certification under subpart B of this part, or for whom a petition is filed.
Health Coverage Tax Credit or HCTC means the tax credit equal to a specific percentage of the costs of qualified health insurance premiums, which is administered by the Internal Revenue Service under section 35 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (26 U.S.C. 35). When the tax credit is available, eligible TAA and RTAA recipients (see definitions of eligible TAA recipient and eligible RTAA recipient) and qualifying family members may apply for advance payment of the credit or claim the credit on their income tax return.
Impact date means the date stated in a certification of eligibility to apply for the TAA Program, on which the total or partial separations of the workers covered by the certification began or threatened to begin, but in most cases, is not more than 1 year before the petition date.
Increased imports means that imports have increased either absolutely or relative to domestic production compared to a representative base period. The representative base period will be 1 year consisting of the 4 quarters immediately preceding the date that is 12 months prior to the date of the petition.
Individual employment plan or IEP means a revisable document containing an ongoing strategy, jointly developed by the trade-affected worker and the State, identifying the worker's employment goals, appropriate achievement objectives, and appropriate services for the worker to achieve his or her employment goals, objectives, and benchmarks while in training or receiving employment and case management services.
Job finding club means a job search workshop that includes a period of 1 to 2 weeks of structured, supervised activity in which trade-affected workers attempt to obtain jobs.
Job search program or JSP means a job search workshop or job finding club.
Job search workshop means a short (1 to 3 days) seminar designed to provide workers with knowledge that will enable the workers to find jobs. Subjects are not limited to, but should include, labor market information, resume writing, interviewing techniques, and techniques for finding job openings.
Lack of work means that the employer does not have work for the worker to perform or does not make that work available to the worker, and includes, but is not limited to, circumstances when:
(1) Work is unavailable because the employer suspends or ceases operations or institutes a lockout; or
(2) Work is unavailable because the employer downsizes the workforce by means of attrition or layoff.
Layoff means a suspension of or separation from employment by a firm for lack of work, initiated by the employer, and expected to be for a definite or indefinite period of time.
Liable State means, with respect to a trade-affected worker making claims for TAA Program benefits, the State whose State UI law is the applicable State law. A State can be both an agent State and a liable State.
Like or directly competitive means, for articles, that articles have characteristics that are substantially identical in inherent or intrinsic characteristics (i.e., material from which the articles are made, appearance, quality) or are used for substantially equivalent purposes and achieve comparable results and are, therefore, commercially interchangeable; and for services, services that have characteristics that are substantially identical in inherent or intrinsic characteristics (i.e., processes and procedures that comprise the activity, sequence of steps or component elements required in the provision of the service or both) or are used for substantially equivalent purposes and achieve comparable results and are, therefore, commercially interchangeable.
Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance or OTAA means the organization within the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration that administers the TAA Program, or OTAA's successor organization.
One-stop delivery system means the nationwide system of one-stop career centers, known as American Job Centers, which administer and deliver workforce development, educational, and training activities, as well as supportive services to workers and job seekers, in accordance with title I of WIOA.
On-the-job training or OJT means work-based training, provided - under contract with an employer in the public, nonprofit, or private sector - to an AAW who is employed by the employer.
Partial separation or partially separated means, with respect to an AAW who has not been totally separated, that:
(1) For purposes of subpart B of this part:
(i) The worker's hours of work have been reduced to 80 percent or less of the worker's average weekly hours at the firm, or appropriate subdivision thereof during the period of investigation; and
(ii) The worker's wages have been reduced to 80 percent or less of the worker's average weekly wage at the firm, or appropriate subdivision thereof during the period of investigation.
(2) For this subpart and subparts C through I of this part:
(i) The worker's hours of work have been reduced to 80 percent or less of the worker's average weekly hours in adversely affected employment during the certification period; and
(ii) The worker's wages have been reduced to 80 percent or less of the worker's average weekly wage in adversely affected employment during the certification period.
Period of duty means active duty served by an AAW before completing training under subpart F of this part for a period of more than 30 days under a call or order to active duty of more than 30 days or, in the case of a member of the Army National Guard of the United States or Air National Guard of the United States, full-time National Guard duty under 32 U.S.C. 502(f), for 30 consecutive days or more when authorized by the President or the Secretary of Defense for the purpose of responding to a national emergency declared by the President and supported by Federal funds.
Petition date means the date a petition form is signed by the petitioner(s). When petitioners sign on different dates, the petition date is the latest of those dates.
Prerequisite education or prerequisite coursework or prerequisite training means any coursework or training required by a training provider before entering an occupational training program designed to impart the skills and information required to perform a specific job or group of jobs.
Program of remedial education or remedial education or remedial training means coursework or training that is designed to enhance the employability of a trade-affected worker by upgrading basic academic knowledge through such courses as adult basic education (ABE), basic math and literacy, English language acquisition (ELA) for nonnative speakers, and high school equivalency (HSE) courses, among others.
Qualifying separation means any total or partial separation of an AAW from adversely affected employment within the certification period for the purposes of determining the AAW's eligibility to receive Basic TRA; 26-week period for enrollment in approved training; and Basic TRA eligibility period. The first qualifying separation is used to determine the weekly and maximum amounts of Basic TRA payable to an AAW.
Reemployment Trade Adjustment Assistance or RTAA means the TAA Program benefit available to certain AAWs 50 years of age and older who obtain qualifying reemployment.
Regional Administrator means the appropriate Regional Administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration.
Secretary means the Secretary of Labor, U.S. Department of Labor, or his or her designee.
Separation date means:
(1) For a total separation:
(i) For a worker in employment status and not on employer-authorized leave, the last day worked; or
(ii) For a worker on employer-authorized leave, including leave for military service, the last day the worker would have worked had the worker not been on the employer-authorized leave.
(2) For a partial separation, the last day of the week in which the partial separation occurred.
Service means the work performed by a worker for a service firm or appropriate subdivision. The work of a service firm is measured in units of time, labor, and tasks completed. Services may include the incidental production of an article, such as a license, ticket, certificate, permit, model, drawing, or prototype. Services are intangible but may involve the use of tangible objects during the supply of the service (such as textbooks in the supply of educational services). Where the revenue of the firm, or appropriate subdivision, is generated from the sale of a service, the firm, or appropriate subdivision, is deemed to be engaged in activity related to the supply of a service.
Significant number or proportion of the workers means:
(1) The lesser of 50 workers or 5 percent of the workers within a firm, or appropriate subdivision, have been totally or partially separated, or both, or are threatened with total or partial separation; or
(2) 2 or more workers within a firm, or appropriate subdivision, with a workforce of fewer than 50 workers, have been totally or partially separated, or both, or are threatened with total or partial separation.
Staffed worker means a worker directly employed by one firm to perform work under the operational control of another firm that is the subject of a petition investigation. These workers were previously referred to as “leased workers.” The term excludes independent contractors.
State means the States of the United States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; and the term “United States,” when used in the geographical sense, includes the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
State agency means the agency at the State level that administers the State law.
State law means the UI law of a State under section 3304 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (26 U.S.C. 3304).
Successor-in-interest means a firm, whether or not named on a certification issued under subpart B of this part, from which trade-affected workers are separated, or threatened with separation, and where most or all of the factors in paragraphs (1) through (7) of this definition are present, relative to a firm named on a determination issued under subpart B:
(1) There is continuity in business operations.
(2) There is continuity in location.
(3) There is continuity in the workforce.
(4) There is continuity in supervisory personnel.
(5) The same jobs exist under similar conditions.
(6) There is continuity in machinery, equipment, and process.
(7) There is continuity in product/service.
Suitable employment means, with respect to a worker, work of a substantially equal or higher skill level than the worker's past adversely affected employment, and wages for such work that are not less than 80 percent of the worker's average weekly wage. Part-time, temporary, short-term, or threatened employment is not suitable employment.
Supplier means a firm that produces and supplies directly to another firm component parts for articles, or services, used in the production of articles or in the supply of services, as the case may be, that were the basis for a certification of eligibility under § 618.225 of a worker group employed by such other firm. There is no direct supply where an intervening customer, supplier, or another entity receives the component parts, aside from in a delivery or bailment capacity, or in the case of a service supplier, if an intervening entity performs the service.
Supportive services means services such as local transportation, childcare, dependent care, and housing, provided through WIOA or other programs, that are needed to enable an individual to participate in activities authorized under the Act.
Threatened to become totally or partially separated means that there is evidence of intent to separate workers or that imminent separations are reasonably anticipated.
Threatened to begin means, in the context of reasonably anticipated total or partial separations, the date(s) on which imminent separations will begin.
Total separation or totally separated means:
(1) For purposes of subpart B of this part, the layoff or severance of an AAW from a firm or appropriate subdivision thereof; or
(2) For all other purposes under this part, the layoff or severance of a worker from adversely affected employment with a firm, or appropriate subdivision thereof.
Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers or Trade Adjustment Assistance or TAA Program means chapter 2 of title II of the Act, Public Law 93-618, 88 Stat. 1978 (19 U.S.C. 2271-2323 and 2395), as amended, which establishes the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers (TAA) Program. The benefits and services established under the Act, including RTAA, are collectively referred to as the Trade Adjustment Assistance Program (TAA Program) and provide assistance to workers adversely affected by foreign trade, as described in this part.
Trade-affected worker means both “adversely affected workers” and “adversely affected incumbent workers.”
Trade Readjustment Allowances or TRA means a weekly allowance payable to an AAW who meets the requirements of subpart G of this part. There are three types of TRA: Basic, Additional, and Completion, as described in § 618.710.
Unemployment Insurance or UI means the unemployment compensation payable to a worker under any State law or Federal UI law, including chapter 85 of title 5 of the U.S. Code and the RRUI. UI includes:
(1) Regular compensation means compensation payable to a worker under any State unemployment compensation law (including compensation payable pursuant to 5 U.S.C. chapter 85), other than extended compensation and additional compensation.
(2) Additional compensation means compensation payable to exhaustees by reason of conditions of high unemployment or by reason of other special factors.
(3) Extended compensation means compensation (including additional compensation and compensation payable pursuant to 5 U.S.C. chapter 85) payable for weeks of unemployment beginning in an extended benefit period to a worker under those provisions of the State law that satisfy the requirements of the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 (EUCA) (26 U.S.C. 3304 (note)) with respect to the payment of extended compensation, including one-hundred percent federally funded unemployment compensation extensions.
Value-added production processes or services means such processes or services similar to and including final assembly, finishing, testing, packaging, or maintenance or transportation services.
Wages means:
(1) Remuneration as defined by State law; or
(2) For purposes of calculating a reemployment wage when determining the availability of suitable employment, the stated salary and - to the extent known - the value of any compensation package that would be defined as remuneration under State law, as provided by an employer in a job posting or job offer.
Wagner-Peyser Act means the Wagner-Peyser Act, as amended (29 U.S.C. 49 et seq.).
Week means a week as defined in the applicable State law.
Week of unemployment means a week of total, part-total, or partial unemployment as determined under the applicable State law or Federal UI law.
Worker group means two or more workers of the same firm, or appropriate subdivision thereof, named in a certification rendered under subpart B of this part as eligible to apply for TAA Program benefits and services, inclusive of teleworkers and staffed workers.
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act or WIOA means the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (Pub. L. 113-128, as amended).