When plant closings and layoffs become a reality, get the help you need through the State Dislocated Worker Unit.

The State Dislocated Worker Unit (DWU) is responsible for providing "Rapid Response" assistance to employers and employees impacted by any permanent layoff or closure action affecting 50 or more workers.

Rapid Response services are provided regardless of the reason for layoff or closure (e.g., Trade impacted, company downsizing/restructuring, natural disaster, plant relocation, bankruptcy, etc.).

• What is "Rapid Response"?
• What are the benefits of "Rapid Response"?
• How do I contact the State Dislocated Worker Unit?
• Is an employer required to give notice prior to a layoff?
• Which employers, employees, and layoff situations are covered under the WARN Act?
• Further Information on the WARN Act
• What is the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) Program?
• TAA Petitions
• TAA Services and Benefits
• State Dislocated Worker Unit Layoff Notification Reports

What is "Rapid Response"?

Rapid Response is an information sharing service for employees, as well as employers. It facilitates access to South Carolina's public workforce system and services designed to assist workers in finding new employment. Rapid Response is a collaborative effort involving several workforce partners, such as the:

This group of partners comprises the "Rapid Response Team". The Team stands ready to assist both employers and employees as they transition through a downsizing or closure event.

Rapid Response represents the immediate effort by federal, state, and local officials to help workers return to work as quickly as possible. Rapid Response activities begin by having an initial meeting with the company management staff. If the company is union, it is very important and beneficial that the employee representative also attend the initial meeting. Information such as the anticipated layoff schedule and employee demographic data, as well as reemployment services, unemployment benefits, and retraining programs are shared during this meeting.

Upon conclusion of this meeting, a schedule is agreed upon whereby the Rapid Response Team can share the same information with the affected workers on site before the first layoff is expected to occur. This meeting is referred to as the "employee Group Orientation session".

What are the benefits of "Rapid Response"?

The value of early intervention assistance has been consistently demonstrated across the state and nation. The initial meeting with management allows for resource planning and identification of needed services. The opportunity for on-site briefings with affected workers allows them to make the most informed decisions concerning their future. When workers have information and access to adjustment and reemployment services before they are laid off, workers tend to have a more positive attitude towards their employer and production levels are maintained. Thus, pre-layoff meetings have worked to the benefit of both employers and employees, as well as the workforce system and community at large. They are critical in ensuring a smooth transition and reemployment success for all employees and their families impacted by a layoff.

How do I contact the State Dislocated Worker Unit?

• Upon receipt of a notice of layoff or plant closure as required by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act;
• When an employer voluntarily notifies a local One-Stop Center or the State DWU; or,
• When the DWU becomes aware of such event through other sources.

For additional information, please contact the State Dislocated Worker Unit as follows:

Mailing Address

SC Department of Commerce
Attention: DWU
1201 Main Street, Suite 1600
Columbia, SC 29201-3200
Telephone: Toll Free: (866) SC1-STOP
Fax: (803) 737-2119

For further information regarding the Dislocated Worker Unit or Rapid Response services, please contact Ms. Pat Sherlock. For further information regarding Rapid Response services, please contact Mr. Dan Craig.

Is an employer required to give notice prior to a layoff?

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act offers protection to workers, their families and communities by requiring employers to provide notice 60 days in advance of covered plant closings and covered mass layoffs. This notice must be provided to either affected workers or their representatives (e.g., a labor union); to the State Dislocated Worker Unit (DWU); and to the appropriate unit of local government. Click here for sample WARN letter. Those employers not covered under the WARN Act are encouraged to make voluntary notification to the DWU. Click here for sample voluntary letter.

Which employers, employees, and layoff situations are covered under the WARN Act?

Covered Employees
Employees entitled to notice under WARN include managers and supervisors, as well as hourly and salaried workers. Business partners are not entitled to notice.

Employment Loss
The term "employment loss" means:

• an employment termination, other than a discharge for cause, voluntary departure, or retirement;
• a layoff exceeding 6 months; or
• a reduction in an employee's hours of work of more than 50% in each month of any 6-month period.

Covered Plant Closings
A covered plant closing occurs when an employment site (or one or more facilities or operating units within an employment site) will be shut down, and the shutdown will result in employment loss for 50 or more covered employees during any 30-day period.

Covered Mass Layoffs
A covered mass layoff occurs when a layoff of six months or longer affects either 500 or more workers or at least 33% of the employer's workforce when the layoff affects between 50 and 499 workers. The number of affected workers is the total number laid off during a 30-day (or in some cases 90-day) period.

Exceptions
WARN does not apply to closure of temporary facilities, or the completion of an activity when the workers were hired only for the duration of that activity. WARN also provides for less than 60 days notice when the layoffs resulted from closure of a faltering company, unforeseeable business circumstances, or a natural disaster.

Further Information on the WARN Act

Penalties/Sanctions
An employer who violates the WARN provisions is liable to each employee for an amount equal to back pay and benefits for the period of the violation, up to 60 days. This may be reduced by the period of any notice that was given, and any voluntary payments that the employer made to the employee.

An employer who fails to provide the required notice to the unit of local government is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $500 for each day of violation. The employer may avoid this penalty by satisfying the liability to each employee within three weeks after the closing or layoff.

Enforcement
Enforcement of WARN requirements is through the United States district courts. Workers, representatives of employees and units of local government may bring individual or class action suits. In any suit, the court, in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party a reasonable attorney's fee as part of the costs.

Additional Information
Specific requirements of the WARN Act may be found in the Act itself, Public Law 100-379 (29U.S.C.2101, et seq.). The U.S. Department of Labor published final regulations on April 20, 1989 in the Federal Register (Vol. 54, No. 75). The regulations appear at 20 CFR Part 639.

The U.S. Department of Labor has issued guides to provide workers and employers with an overview of their rights and responsibilities under the provisions of the WARN Act.

For further information, visit the U.S. Department of Labor website at www.dol.gov/dol/compliance/comp-warn.htm.

The South Carolina Department of Commerce, since it has no administrative or enforcement responsibility under WARN, cannot provide specific advice or guidance with respect to individual situations.

What is the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) Program?

The Trade Act of 1974, amended in 2002, created a program of Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) to provide re-employment services and benefits to trade-affected workers. Workers who lose their jobs as a result of increased foreign imports or a shift in production to foreign countries that are party to Free Trade Agreements with the United States, are considered primarily affected workers and may be eligible for TAA.

Secondarily affected workers may also be eligible for TAA. These are workers whose employment is affected because they worked with a firm that either produced and supplied component parts or performed final assembly or finishing for articles produced by a firm where a group of workers was certified for TAA benefits.

TAA Petitions

Instructions on how to complete a TAA petition form

Upon receipt of a petition, the U.S. Department of Labor conducts an investigation and gathers data from the employer to determine whether group eligibility criteria have been met. The investigation takes approximately 40 days. Upon completion of the investigation, a written determination will be mailed to the petitioner(s), and the appropriate state(s). To establish group eligibility for TAA benefits, all of the following criteria must be met:

• A significant number of workers must be totally or partially separated from employment or threatened with separation,
  And
• Sales and/or production has decreased,
• Imports like or directly competitive with goods produced by the workers' firm have increased,
• Increased imports contributed importantly to actual or threatened separation,
  or
• There has been a shift of production by workers' firm of like or directly competitive articles to a country that is party to a Free Trade Agreement with the United States.

To check the status of a filed TAA petition: www.doleta.gov/tradeact/taa/taa_search.cfm

TAA Services and Benefits

The goal of the TAA program is to help workers become reemployed in a suitable job as quickly as possible. Available services and benefits include:

• Job Search Allowances
• Job Relocation Allowances
• Training
• Trade Readjustment Allowances(TRA)
• Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance (ATAA)
• Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC)

Job search allowances cover a portion of the expenses incurred in seeking employment outside one's normal commuting distance. Ninety percent (90%) of necessary and reasonable travel expenses to conduct confirmed job interviews may be available. There are time restrictions, and an individual must apply and obtain prior approval before traveling to any pre-arranged job interview. The maximum reimbursement allowed is $1,250.

If offered a job outside one's normal commuting distance, job relocation allowances are available to assist in relocating for employment. Individuals may receive 90% of the necessary and reasonable expenses of moving family members and household goods to the new location. In addition, a lump sum payment equal to three times the worker's former weekly salary may be received, up to a maximum of $1,250. There are time restrictions pertaining to application, and the application must be filed and approved prior to the relocation.

Training may be necessary to upgrade skills or obtain new occupational skills for re-employment purposes. For training to be approved, all six of the following criteria must be met.

• There is no suitable employment
• The individual would benefit from appropriate training.
• There is reasonable expectation of employment following completion of training.
• Training is reasonably available to the individual.
• The individual is qualified to undertake and complete training.
• Training is suitable for the individual and available at a reasonable cost.

Trade Readjustment Allowances (TRA) are weekly income support payments that may be available after all rights to Unemployment Compensation are exhausted. There are specific eligibility requirements and application deadlines. This financial assistance is provided while participating in training. If waived from the training requirement, an individual may still receive TRA payments for a limited time while conducting an intensive job search.

Approved trade petitions that are also certified for Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance (ATAA) offer a wage supplement program for individuals age 50 or older. If an eligible individual obtains a job (within 26 weeks of separation) which pays less than what was earned with the trade-affected employer, ATAA will pay the individual 50% of the difference between the wages of the new job and the wages earned in the trade-affected employment. The ATAA wage supplement may be paid up to a maximum of $10,000 or for two years, whichever occurs first.

Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC) is a federal tax credit that pays 65% of the qualified health plan premiums paid by eligible individuals. The credit may be claimed at the end of the year when filing one's tax return or claimed in advance on a monthly basis as health premiums become due.

To be eligible for HCTC, an individual must meet one of the following requirements:

• receiving a Trade Readjustment Allowance (TRA) or would be receiving a TRA except that the regular UI claim has not been exhausted;
• receiving Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance (ATAA); or,
• receiving benefits from the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC).

Qualified health plans for HCTC include:

• COBRA continuation coverage
• Spousal coverage plans where the spouse's employer pays for less than 50% of the premium (This option is available only as a year-end tax credit)
• Individual (non-group) health coverage that began at least 30 days prior to separation from employment
• South Carolina Health Insurance Pool administered by Blue Cross Blue Shield. For more information on this plan, call BC/BS at 1-800-868-2500, Ext. 46401.

For more information on TAA services and benefits, contact a local one-stop workforce center by accessing www.sces.org/loff/locoff.htm or read the Trade Adjustment Assistance booklet for a more detailed description of the program.

State Dislocated Worker Unit Layoff Notification Reports

NOTE: The State Dislocated Worker Unit tracks job losses, not individuals. These job losses are tracked by notification date/date of layoff confirmation versus the effective date of the layoff action. Therefore, layoff events may be reflected on one calendar year report, but may not actually occur until the next calendar year.

• Calendar Year 2006
• Calendar Year 2005
• Calendar Year 2004
• Calendar Year 2003
• Calendar Year 2002
• Calendar Year 2001
• Calendar Year 2000