Employers of temporary or seasonal foreign workers are going to be affected by recent revisions to the process by which they obtain a labor certification from the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) for the temporary employment of a foreign worker in H-2B status. The changes to USDOL's regulations implementing its H-2B worker program were published in the Federal Register on February 21, 2012. This final rule will take effect on April 23, 2012.
An H-2B worker is a foreign national admitted temporarily into the United States to perform temporary non-agricultural labor or services for which qualified U.S. workers cannot be found. As a prerequisite to filing an H-2B visa petition with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), an employer must obtain a labor certification from USDOL confirming that (i) sufficient qualified U.S. workers are not available, and (ii) the employment of the foreign worker(s) sponsored will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers. To continue reading, click here.