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Act covers Dell workers
Labor OKs employees for a range of enhanced benefits
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October 23, 2009
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Published: March 11, 2010
Dell Inc. employees affected by the pending closing of the local plant have been approved for federal Trade Adjustment Assistance Act benefits, the U.S. Labor Department said yesterday.
The act provides extended unemployment, health-insurance and training benefits to employees whose jobs were eliminated related to foreign competition or the shift in production/supply of services to other countries.
Three Dell employees filed a petition for benefits Oct. 14 -- just eight days after the company said it was closing the plant as part of a strategy of sending more desktop-production work to offshore plants and third-party vendors. The department approved the petition March 1.
After eliminating at least 400 jobs in November, Dell has issued two three-month reprieves for the plant, with a closing date now set for July 31.
The petition affects more that just employees working for Dell at the time of the plant closing announcement. Any Dell employee whose job elimination comes between Oct. 13, 2008, and March 1, 2012, is covered by the petition, said Grover Houck, who handles TAA benefits for the N.C. Employment Security Commission.
Also eligible are temporary and contract employees who worked at the plant connected to Adecco, Spherion, Patriot Staffing, Manpower, TEKsystems, APN and Iconma.
Altogether, there could be more than 1,400 employees -- Dell, temporary and contract -- who may be eligible for the benefits.
David Frink, a Dell spokesman, said that the company has about 400 employees at the plant. There also could be as many as 100 contract and temporary workers there.
"We have been handling TAA claims for a number of years for a variety of companies and anticipated that Dell would be approved," said Archie Hicks, the manager of the Winston-Salem office for the commission.
"We will enroll those who elect to take advantage of trade benefits as expeditiously as possible."
The Dell employees are the latest workers in the Triad to gain TAA assistance.
In the past nine months, benefits have been approved for employees at Hanesbrands Inc. in Winston-Salem and Eden, Douglas Battery Manufacturing Co., Stanley Furniture Co. Inc. in Lexington, GMAC Insurance, Thomasville Furniture Industries Inc. in Winston-Salem and Hanes Dye and Finishing Co.
The benefits typically include case-management and re-employment services, training in new occupational skills and additional unemployment benefits for former employees enrolled in training. Some workers also may receive job-search and relocation allowances. They also may be eligible for claiming the federal Health Coverage Tax Credit on their federal taxes.
In addition, former employees age 50 and older can choose to receive Re-employment Trade Adjustment Assistance benefits.
That program pays 50 percent of the difference between workers' former wage and new wage -- up to $12,000 over two years. The employees must get a job paying less than $55,000 a year, and the wage must be less than they earned in the job that was eliminated. They also may be eligible for the job training and health-coverage tax credit.
rcraver@wsjournal.com | 727-7376
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