Software Testers Eligible for Trade Adjustment Help

November 22, 2010 at 07:00 PM
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The federal Employment and Training Administration (ETA) says workers at two insurance software testing centers in Pennsylvania are eligible for federal Trade Adjustment Assistance benefits.

The workers were employed by a variety of companies to test software for MetLife Inc., New York (NYSE:MET), and conduct software quality assurance checks for MetLife at facilities in Moosic, Pa., and Clarks Summit, Pa.

The number of workers affected by the Trade Adjustment Assistance ruling was not immediately available, but the ruling affects Moosic and Clarks Summit software workers "who became totally or partially separated from employment on or after January 4, 2009, through two years from the date of this revised certification, and all workers in the group threatened with total or partial separation from employment on date of certification through two years from the date of certification," Del Min Amy Chen, a certifying officer at the federal Office of Trade Adjustment, says in a notice published today in the Federal Register.

Officials at the ETA, an agency of the U.S. Labor Department, earlier decided that the workers were not eligible for trade assistance help.

"Based on the information obtained during the reconsideration investigation, the [Labor] Department determines that the subject firm shifted to a foreign country a significant proportion of the services like or directly competitive" with those provided by the workers in Moosic, Pa., and Clarks Summit, Pa., Chen says in the new notice.

The work shifted to India, Chen says.

Trade Adjustment Assistance benefits for the workers affected by the ETA ruling could include up to 130 weeks of cash payments for workers in full-time training, up to $1,500 in job search support, relocation assistance, and an 80% individual health insurance tax credit.

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