Foreign Labor Certification

H-2B Update:

On April 26, 2012, the Temporary Non-agricultural Employment of H-2B Aliens in the United States, Final Rule, 77 FR 10038, Feb. 21, 2012 was preliminarily enjoined by the U.S. District Court for Northern District of Florida, Pensacola Division in Bayou Lawn & Landscape Services, et al. v. Hilda L. Solis, et al., 12-cv-00183-RV-CJK, and was never implemented. Therefore, for the present time employers should file their H-2B labor certification applications under the Labor Certification Process and Enforcement for Temporary Employment in Occupations Other Than Agriculture or Registered Nursing in the United States (H-2B Workers), and Other Technical Changes, 73 FR 78020, Dec. 19, 2008.   

20 CFR 655.15(e) which addresses job order requirements is provided here:

(e) Job Order. (1) The employer must place an active job order with the State Workforce Agency (SWA) serving the area of intended employment no more than 120 calendar days before the employer’s date of need for H–2B workers, identifying it as a job order to be placed in connection with a future application for H–2B workers.  Unless otherwise directed by the Certifying Officer (CO), the SWA must keep the job order open for a period of not less than 10 calendar days.  Documentation of this step shall be satisfied by maintaining a copy of the SWA job order downloaded from the SWA Internet job listing site, a copy of the job order provided by the SWA, or other proof of publication from the SWA containing the text of the job order and the start and end dates of posting. If the job opportunity contains multiple work locations within the same area of intended employment and the area of intended employment is found in more than one State, the employer shall place a job order with the SWA having jurisdiction over the place where the work has been identified to begin. Upon placing a job order, the SWA receiving the job order under this paragraph shall promptly transmit, on behalf of the employer, a copy of the active job order to all States listed in the application as anticipated worksites.

(2) The job order submitted by the employer to the SWA must satisfy all the requirements for newspaper advertisements contained in § 655.17.

The job order to the Dept. of Workforce Development (DWD) can be enacted by the employer (or his duly authorized representative) through https://www.indianacareerconnect.com/  There is no fee to use indianacareerconnect.com and you need only set up a User account.

20 CFR 655.17 of that same document which addresses the newspaper advertisement requirements is provided here:

§ 655.17 Advertising requirements.

All advertising conducted to satisfy the required recruitment steps under § 655.15 before filing the Application for Temporary Employment Certification must meet the requirements set forth in this section and must contain terms and conditions of employment which are not less favorable than those to be offered to the H–2B workers. All advertising must contain the following information: (a) The employer’s name and appropriate contact information for applicants to send resumes directly to the employer; (b) The geographic area of employment with enough specificity to apprise applicants of any travel requirements and where applicants will likely have to reside to perform the services or labor; (c) If transportation to the worksite(s) will be provided by the employer, the advertising must say so; (d) A description of  the job opportunity (including the job duties) for which labor certification is sought with sufficient detail to apprise applicants of services or labor to be performed  and the duration of the job opportunity; (e) The job opportunity’s minimum education and experience requirements and whether or not on-the-job training will be  available; (f) The work hours and days, expected start and end dates of employment, and whether or not overtime will be available; (g) The wage offer, or in the event  that there are multiple wage offers, the range of applicable wage offers, each of which must not be less than the highest of the prevailing wage, the Federal minimum wage, State minimum wage, or local minimum wage applicable throughout the duration of the certified H–2B employment; and (h) That the position is temporary and the total number of job openings the employer intends to fill.

E-mail questions regarding these regulations can be referred to the U.S. Dept. of Labor via H-2B.Regulation@dol.gov

Should you have any other general questions, please contact Tim Lawhorn, Labor Certification Specialist at (317) 233-6681 or fax your inquiry to (317) 234-0942. Email address: tlawhorn@dwd.IN.gov