News & Information

CCH® UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE — 7/20/15

Michigan court allows TRA benefits even though waiver of training not filed within 26 weeks

The court affirmed a determination that the claimant was entitled to federal trade readjustment allowances (TRA) benefits even though he did not participate in training classes, which were a prerequisite to eligibility, or timely file a waiver of training. The determination to allow benefits was based upon a finding that the 26-week deadline contained in the 2009 version of the pertinent provision of the statute applied only to enrollments in training and not to waivers of training, which were instead covered under a provision of the law that did not contain the time limit. The court noted that the award of benefits relied upon the holding in Dykstra, which, when discussing the 2002 version of the statue, found that even though the Department of Labor had a contrary interpretation of the statute, that interpretation was not entitled to deference. The court rejected the contention that Dykstra was no longer good law. Congress had deliberately acted to remove the time limit requirement found in the statute from the waiver provision (DOL v. Mohammed Khan, Mich. Ct. of App., No. 318799, June 11, 2015).