PROHIBITION AGAINST DISQUALIFICATION OF INDIVIDUALS TAKING APPROVED TRAINING UNDER TRADE ACT.

No individual shall be denied benefits for any week because such individual is in training approved under 19 U.S.C., Section 2296 (a)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974. An individual shall not be denied benefits by reason of leaving work to begin or continue such training, provided the work left is not suitable employment, or because of the application, to any such week in training, of the provisions of the Employment Security Act of 1980 or any applicable federal unemployment compensation law,¹ relating to availability for work, active search for work, or refusal to accept work. For purposes of this section, the term “suitable employment” means with respect to an individual, work of a substantially equal or higher skill level than the adversely affected past employment of the individual, as defined for purposes of the Trade Act of 1974,² and wages for such work at not less than eighty percent (80%) of the average weekly wage of the individual as determined for the purposes of the Trade Act of 1974.