Prevailing Wage Determinations Suspended

The Department of Labor’s National Prevailing Wage Center (NPWC) currently is not issuing Prevailing Wage Determinations (PWDs), nor are they reviewing requests for reconsideration or appeals to the Center Director. The NPWC handles PWDs for the PERM labor certification, H-1B, H-1B1 (Chile/Singapore), H-2B and E-3 programs. As a result of the suspension, prevailing wage requests filed since early June 2011 are still pending. Previously, such requests were routinely processed in 3-4 weeks. 
These processes are on hold at this time as the NPWC is required to reissue approximately 4,000 H-2B wage determinations, to reflect the new H-2B wage rates that will apply for H-2B employment on or after September 30, 2011.

It is unclear how long the suspension will last. In the rule published on August 1, DOL indicated that while they will be able to reissue all of the required H-2B wage determinations before October 1, they also stated that DOL could not reissue all 4,000 required H-2B wage determinations before August 31, 2011. DOL has not issued any estimate on when they will resume processing prevailing wages.

The NPWC is now sending out the following revised message regarding prevailing wage determinations:

The OFLC National Prevailing Wage Center is experiencing delays in processing prevailing wage determinations as it is currently working to reissue certain determinations to comply with a court order issued June 15, 2011 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was published in the Federal Register on June 28, 2011, and a Final Rule will be published on August 1. All Center resources are currently being utilized to comply with this court order. The processing of Prevailing Wage Determinations, redeterminations, and Center Director Reviews has been temporarily suspended. Processing will resume as soon as full compliance with the court order has been completed by OFLC.

The June 15, 2011 court order stems from the August 30, 2010 decision in CATA v. Solis, where the district court ordered DOL to promulgate new H-2B prevailing wage regulations.

US Losing Its Best and Brightest Due to Unworkable Immigration Scheme

The recent USA Today article, More of the World’s Talented Workers Opt to Leave USA,  describes how the US is losing its best and brightest due to these foreign national’s opportunities at home, but also immigration delays.    The CEO of TiE Global, a worldwide network of professionals who promote entrepreneurship, explains, “If the country is going to maintain the kind of economic well-being that we’ve enjoyed for many years, that requires having these incredibly gifted individuals who have been educated and trained by us.”

 On an everyday basis, I find my corporate clients exasperated by long delays in visa processing, unfounded requests for evidence on pending applications, and general frustration in the delay and amount of time and money spent on immigration petitions.  One high technology client has chosen to relocate research and development activities abroad so it can be assured of choosing the scientists and researchers it needs without the headaches of considering immigration implications with each hiring decision.

 Other clients tell me that they will no longer sponsor foreign nationals for work visas due to the headaches involved.  This seems to be the answer that many who would have the US close its borders are seeking.  However, within a short while, each and every one of these clients has changed this position as they cannot locate a US worker to fill a position which requires higher education in the science, technology, engineering or math fields. 

 I am in support of creating jobs for US workers, but what many American’s don’t realize is that these innovators are creating jobs.  They are developing green energy solutions, creating smaller and smaller electronic devices with more power, and making our cars more fuel efficient.  Without these workers, our US COMPANIES would fail.  If we want to work on creating more jobs for US workers, let’s turn our attention towards our education system and training our students to compete on a global level rather than turning to the protectionism that will only hurt us in the long run.