Departments of Labor and Homeland Security announced that they were working to issue a joint interim final rule on H-2B, according to the Office of Foreign Labor Certification. The DOL and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are working to publish regulations to minimize future interruptions to the H-2B program, according to DHS. The federal district court in the Northern District of Florida vacated DOL’s 2008 H-2B regulations March 4 on the grounds that the DOL lacks authority to issue regulations in the H-2B program. On April 15, the Department of Labor was allowed to process temporary labor certifications under the H-2B applications through May 15. According to the Department of Labor, “There are no significant skill-based wage differences in the occupations that predominate in the H-2B program, and to the extent such differences might exist, those differences are not captured by the existing four-tier wage structure.”Įmployers are no longer allowed to use company-issued surveys to determine wages, except in limited circumstances such as situations in which a job is located somewhere not included in the OES data collection. Under the new rule, which is very similar to the 2012 ruling, the prevailing wage is the highest mean for an occupational category using the Occupational Employment Statistics numbers. The DOL and DHS also issued a final rule on determining wages for H-2B workers, eliminating the four-tier structure established in a 2008 ruling. The interim final rule is effective immediately, but all labor certification applications submitted before April 28 will be processed under the old rules. Employers must display a poster describing employee rights and protections.Workers must be provided with earnings statements, including hours worked and offered and deductions clearly specified along with copies of the job order.Employers must disclose their use of foreign labor recruiters in the solicitation of workers.Employers must pay inbound transportation and subsistence costs of workers who complete 50 percent of the job order period and the outbound transportation and subsistence expenses of employees who complete the entire job order period.citizenship must be contacted with job opportunities. Employers must pay visa fees and other related charges.Companies are now only allowed to use the program for 9 months instead of 10.Employers are prohibited from retaliating against workers exercising their rights under the program.workers until 21 days before the employer's start date of need There is also the possibility of required contact with community-based organizations. Jobs must be included in the new electronic job registry.All jobs must be at least 35 hours per week.If employers stop employing an H-2B worker, they must notify the Department of Labor.The new rule regulating the H-2B labor certification process is “virtually identical” to a similar 2012 rule, according to the departments.
The Department of Labor and the Department of Homeland Security have issued an interim final rule regarding H-2B processes.
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