Calling the Department of Labor regulations authorizing employers to use employer-provided wage surveys for prevailing wage determinations (PWDs) for H-2B workers arbitrary and capricious, and finding that they violate of the Administrative Procedure Act, the U.S. court of appeals in Philadelphia has vacated the DOL regulations at 20 CFR §655.10(f) and the Department’s 2009 H-2B
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U.S. Department of Labor Issues Fact Sheet Outlining Review of its PERM Labor Certification Program
By Jackson Lewis P.C. on
Posted in US Immigration
AUTHOR: Robert Neale.
The U.S. Department of Labor has issued a “Fact Sheet” on its plans to initiate a review of its PERM Labor Certification Program and accompanying regulations. The review is being conducted as part of President Barack Obama’s recent efforts through Executive Action to reform the country’s immigration system.
The DOL noted that…
Federal Court Upholds Validity of 2011 H-2B Prevailing Wage
By Otieno B. Ombok on
Posted in US Immigration
The Temporary Non-agricultural Employment 2011 H-2B Wage Rule for calculating the prevailing wage rates (“Rule”) has cleared one of the last hurdles to implementation by the U.S. Department of Labor, with a ruling by a federal appeals court in Philadelphia upholding the regulation. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held on February…
Ninth Circuit Requires Reimbursement of H2A Expenses
By Jackson Lewis P.C. on
Posted in US Immigration
In the latest in a series of decisions addressing the proper allocation of travel and immigration fee expenses between employers and employees utilizing the H2A agricultural guestworker program, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled an employer must reimburse an H2A worker for the employee’s travel and immigration expenses in the initial…
DHS and DOL Jointly Issue Interim H-2B Wage Methodology Rule
By Otieno B. Ombok on
Posted in US Immigration
The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Labor have issued a joint interim final rule that establishes a new methodology for calculating prevailing wages under the H-2B low-skilled, nonagricultural guestworker program. This is in response to a March 21 district court decision, in Comité de Apoyo a los Trabajadores Agricolas v. Solis, vacating…
DOL Announces New, Searchable Registry of LCA and PERM Applications for Review
By Maggie Murphy on
Posted in US Immigration
The Department of Labor (DOL) is launching an online registry to publish data from certified PERM and Labor Condition Applications filed via its online iCERT system. The registry, expected to launch July 1, will include information about cases certified as far back as April 2009. New cases will be available as early as two business…
Technology Company to Pay More Than $740,000 in Back Wages to H-1B Workers
By Jackson Lewis P.C. on
Posted in US Immigration
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has announced that Semafor Technologies LLC in Norcross, Georgia, has agreed to pay 73 employees $741,288 in back wages following an investigation by the WHD. The June 12, 2012, announcement is the result of an investigation that found the company failed to pay 54 foreign…
The Politics of Wage Rate Determinations For Temporary Foreign Workers
By Jackson Lewis P.C. on
Posted in US Immigration
The Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration has issued a final rule delaying the effective date of a new H-2B wage calculation regulation.
Throughout 2011, the DOL and the Small Business Association (among other interested groups) have been at odds over the proposed change to the way prevailing wages are calculated for H-2B workers.…
Effects of Prevailing Wage Determination Delays on Foreign Workers’ Status
By Jackson Lewis P.C. on
Posted in US Immigration
Traditionally, it takes approximately four weeks to get a Prevailing Wage Determination from the NPWC. There has never been a way to expedite issuance of a Prevailing Wage Determination. The wait is now longer.
Continue Reading Effects of Prevailing Wage Determination Delays on Foreign Workers’ Status
Department of Labor to Increase Enforcement Actions
By Minnie Fu on
Posted in US Immigration
On April 1, 2010, Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis announced DOL’s “We Can Help” campaign in Chicago, where she told an audience of union leaders and community members that the DOL “will not allow anyone to be denied his or her rightful pay — especially when so many in our nation are working long, hard and often dangerous hours.”…
Continue Reading Department of Labor to Increase Enforcement Actions