TAA eligibility and petitioning

Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance (ATAA) and Reemployment Trade Adjustment Assistance (RTAA) provide subsidies for some older TAA-certified workers.

Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance (ATAA)

This income bridges the gap between your wage when you left your trade-affected job and your new wage. The certification must include ATAA. It applies to workers under petitions numbered 50,000 to 69,999 and 98,000 and above.

Once you begin receiving ATAA payments, you cannot:

  • Switch to TAA.
  • Receive retraining, allowances and Trade Readjustment Assistance.

Requirements to qualify for ATAA

To qualify for ATAA, you need to:

  • Be determined eligible for TAA and receiving TAA case management services.
  • Be at least 50 years old when you are reemployed or reach age 50 during reemployment.
  • Get a new job by the last day of the 26th week after you qualified to leave your TAA/ATAA-certified job.
  • Not expect to earn from your new job more than $50,000 annually in gross wages. These wages do not include overtime pay.
  • Be reemployed full time, as defined by law in the state where you're employed.
  • Not return to work for the trade-affected employer you left.

How to apply for ATAA

You need to:

  • File an ATAA application within 2 years of the first day of qualifying reemployment.
  • Request ATAA instead of other TAA allowances.

We strongly recommend that you get help from a WorkSource TAA case manager to apply. Use the WorkSource locator tool to contact a TAA case manager in your area. Or contact the TAA Program Operations Team at wataa@esd.wa.gov.

Reemployment Trade Adjustment Assistance (RTAA)

Like ATAA, RTAA bridges the gap between your wage when you left your trade-affected job and your new wage. Unlike ATAA, RTAA has no deadline for when you get a new job. Workers may receive RTAA for part-time jobs if enrolled in TAA-approved training. RTAA applies to workers under petitions numbered 70,000-97,999.

Requirements to qualify for RTAA

To qualify for RTAA, you need to:

  • Qualify for TAA case management services.
  • Be at least 50 years old when you return to work or reach age 50 during reemployment.
  • Not return to work for the trade-affected employer you left.

Also, you must not expect to earn from your new job an annual gross wage (not including overtime pay) greater than:

  • $55,000 for petitions numbered 70,000 to 79,999.
  • $50,000 for petitions numbered 81,000 and above.

You also need to either:

  • Work full time, as defined by law in the state where you're employed.
  • Work part time and attend TAA-approved training full or part time.

About part time work

Part-time work is at least 20 hours per week. This option is only for petitions numbered 70,000 to 79,999 and 81,000 and above.

How to apply for RTAA

You need to file an RTAA application by the earlier of these 2 dates:

  • Within 2 years of your new qualifying job's start date.
  • Within 2 years of when you ran out of unemployment benefits. These benefits are what you received when you left your trade-affected job.

We strongly recommend that you get help from a WorkSource TAA case manager to apply. Use the WorkSource locator tool to contact a TAA case manager in your area. Or contact TAA Program Operations Team at wataa@esd.wa.gov.