LINDON -- Federal assistance will be available to 30 laid-off workers of ModusLink Corp.'s operations in Lindon and Raleigh, N.C., after federal government officials on Thursday said the company shifted its electronic packaging production to Singapore and Mexico.

The U.S. Department of Labor said the ModusLink workers are among 5,500 laid-off workers in 16 states that were deemed eligible for Trade Adjustment Assistance, a federal program designed to help workers who are laid off or face either reduced hours or layoffs due to direct competition from foreign trade.

But Farrah Phillipo, spokeswoman for ModusLink, disputed the Labor Department's ruling, saying the company didn't move any electronic packaging functions to Mexico or Singapore.

"We allocated several document control and centralized planning positions to Futian, southern China. We've had to make some adjustments within our organization. It made more sense to have that function in China," she said.

The Waltham, Mass., company, which has 4,000 workers globally including 230 in Lindon, has more than 25 offices nationwide. The company provides supply chain services for technology companies such as inventory management, assembly and packaging, fulfillment and distribution.

The company filed a petition on Feb. 9 on behalf of its workers, seeking the Trade Adjustment Assistance designation, but withdrew it in April. On May 22, three ModusLink workers filed a petition seeking federal assistance, and the company submitted several documents to support the petition in October.

"The company tried to get the benefits for the affected workers in February. But then the Obama administration said there may be some changes to the federal rules and guidelines. So rather than wait and make changes, we chose to withdraw our petition until there was full disclosure on the new rules," Phillipo said.

She said she couldn't comment on the discrepancy in the government's findings.

In an Oct. 28 ruling, Labor Department certifying officer Amy Chen Del Min found that the workers' request met the act's three criteria, especially because "the shift in production of electronic packaging to Singapore, Asia, and Mexico contributed importantly to worker group separations at ModusLink."

Chen Del Min also found "a significant number or proportion of workers at ModusLink have been separated from 2007 to 2008, and during the period of January through June 2009 when compared to the same time period in 2008, and/or are threatened with separation."

"The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to supporting all of the nation's workers -- including those who lose their jobs because their companies relocate abroad," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "Through the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, we are leveraging opportunities for displaced workers to acquire new occupational skills, which will help them secure good jobs in emerging areas of their local economies."

Workers covered by these latest TAA certifications will be contacted by their respective states with instructions on how to apply for individual benefits and services.

Those who apply may receive case management and re-employment services, training in new occupational skills and trade readjustment allowances that provide income support for workers enrolled in training. Some also may receive job search and relocation allowances, and the Health Coverage Tax Credit and also elect to receive Re-employment Trade Adjustment Assistance.

Workers 50 and older who find a new job that pays less than $55,000 or less than what they earned at ModusLink can get 50 percent of the difference between their old and new wages, up to $12,000 over a two-year period.

In its fourth quarter earnings report released in September, the company said its net losses narrowed to $4.1 million, or 9 cents loss per share, compared with $24.7 million or 53 cents loss per share a year ago. It reported net revenue of $225.2 million, down nearly 19 percent from a year ago.