According to a Wednesday announcement from the Alabama Department of Labor, current and former employees of Matrix Telecom, Inc. Customer Service Department may be eligible for benefits under the federal Trade Adjustment Assistance Act of 2011.

A petition filed on behalf of workers of Matrix Telecom, Inc., a subsidiary of Platinum Equity located in Atmore, was certified Tuesday, Nov. 20 by Alabama Department of Labor Commissioner Tom Surtees.

In the announcement, Department of Labor officials said workers may have become unemployed because of increased imports. The petition covers periods of unemployment occurring on or before Friday, Oct. 5, 2011 and before Nov. 20, 2014. Under the act, displaced workers may be eligible for Trade Adjustment Assistance benefits such as training, job search and relocation assistance and Health Coverage Tax Credit.

In addition, if workers have exhausted their cash benefits under other state and federal unemployment compensation programs, they may be eligible for weekly benefits equal to the amount they were receiving under other programs. In order to receive Trade Readjustment Allowance benefits, workers must be involved in training no later of 26 weeks after the certification date or after their last qualifying separation or a waiver of the training requirement must be granted by the state Employment Service Division of the Alabama Department of Labor.

Because Matrix Telecom, Inc. was also certified for Re-employment Trade Adjustment Assistance, employees 50 years of age and older who obtain full time employment after their separation from the affected employer may be eligible for allowances.

Surtees said potentially eligible individuals will be notified individually as soon as they are identified.

For more information, visit the Internal Revenue Service website at www.irs.gov and type in the keyword HCTC.