66 Pa. Commw. 583 | Pa. Commw. Ct. | 1982
Opinion by
The Petitioner, Zdzislaw Felcyn, seeks review of a determination of the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review (Board) that he is ineligible for Trade Readjustment Allowance (TRA) benefits under the Trade Act of 1974 (Trade Act), 19 U.S.C. §2101-2487 (1976) (amended 1981)
The findings of the referee, which were accepted by the Board, are uncontested here. Petitioner was
The Trade Act established a federal program providing for the payment of TEA benefits to workers in certain industries who are certified by the Secretary of Labor as being persons adversely affected by unfair or injurious import competition.
In this case, Petitioner has been uniformly denied TEA benefits below because of a determination that during the 52 weeks immediately preceding his January 30, 1980, separation he worked only a total of 19 weeks. Petitioner does not deny that he was on the job no more than 19 weeks; rather, he contends that the 33 weeks of absence while on workmen’s com
Initially, we find Petitioner’s argument that he is eligible for TEA benefits because he is eligible for unemployment compensation to be meritless. As this Court has stated previously in regards to this argument:
The fact that the claimant was awarded Pennsylvania unemployment compensation benefits does not determine his entitlement to TEA benefits. While the federal statute and regulations provide that the disqualifying provisions of state unemployment insurance law also apply to claims for TEA benefits, TEA claimants still must meet the additional qualifying requirements set forth in the federal statute and regulations. The disqualifying provisions of state law merely supplement the federal provisions. Accordingly, not all individuals eligible for state unemployment compensation are eligible for TEA benefits.
Mosqueda v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 60 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 242, 246, 431 A.2d 371, 373 (1981).
Finally, we come to Petitioner’s argument that his period of absence should be ignored in determining the qualifying period of 52 weeks prior to his termination. Petitioner has cited no authority for this proposition to us. Our own research discloses only one case, Hulet v. Review Board of Indiana Employment Security Division, Ind. App., 412 N.E.2d 289 (1980) where a period of time was exempted out of the 52 immediately preceding weeks. That case, however, depended upon a specific federal exemption for military service leave provided in the Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1972, 38 U.S.C. §2013
We affirm.
Order
It is ordered that the decision of the Unemployment Compensation Board of Eeview, Decision No. B-184044, date May 14,1980, is hereby affirmed.
This ease is decided under the Trade Act as it existed prior to the 1981 amendments. Those amendments are discussed further in note 5, infra.
There has been no dispute that Lee Tire Company is one of the industries certified under the Trade Act as being adversely affected by foreign competition.
These cases have all relied upon the Department of Labor’s guidelines for interpreting the term “employment”: “Periods in which service is not being performed, such as leave of absence, sick or annual leave or vacation leave, . . . may not be considered as employment for an adversely affected form or subdivision thereof.” United States Department of Labor, Manpower Handbook on Adjustment Assistance for Workers under the Trade Act of 1974, Part C, p. C-I-4, para. 9 (1975).
Section 2013 provides that any period of time spent in active duty “shall be disregarded in determining the needs or qualifications of participants in any public service employment program ... or any other manpower training (or related) program financed . . . with Federal funds.”
We would note that in August of 1981 the Trade Act was amended to provide that up to seven weeks spent on leave due to a disability compensable under the workmen’s compensation law could be counted as weeks of employment for purposes of the Act. However, these amendments, which in this case would have just given the Petitioner the minimum 26 weeks, were to apply to compensable weeks of unemployment beginning after September 30, 1981. See Section 2514(a)(2)(B) of Pub. L. 97-35, 95 Stat. 881 (1981).