DOL Issues Foreign Labor Certification Performance Report Posted Sep 28, 2007 ©MurthyDotCom The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (FLC) issued its Performance Report for the period of March 28, 2005 to September 30, 2006. The purpose of the Report, dated August 2007, is to provide details on the Department of Labor's (DOL's) Foreign Labor Certification Programs, and to highlight the patterns and trends among employers and foreign workers. ©MurthyDotCom The Role of the DOL's Foreign Labor Certification Programs ©MurthyDotCom Through the Employment and Training Administration (ETA), the DOL works to fulfill two goals: (1) aid employers in hiring, if U.S. workers are unavailable and (2) protect the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers. To facilitate these goals, the ETA has Foreign Labor Certification Programs for both temporary and permanent employment. Certification by the FLC can be the first step towards obtaining employment-based admission to work in the United States. On a temporary basis, foreign nationals may be admitted under H1B status for skilled workers, as well as other, unskilled temporary statuses. Employers also seek certification from the FLC for the purpose of permanent employment under PERM. ©MurthyDotCom PERM Program for Permanent Employment : Statistics on States and Occupations ©MurthyDotCom The DOL implemented the PERM labor certification process, effective March 28, 2005. The Report focuses primarily on the first full year of data collection after implementation, from October 1, 2005 to September 30, 2006. For that reporting period, the FLC indicates that the Chicago and Atlanta National Processing Centers were adjudicating applications consistently with each other, suggesting to the FLC that efficiencies were created as a result of the reengineering of the labor certification (LC) process. Practice tells us, however, that the Atlanta National Processing Center is working at a far slower pace than the Chicago Center at this time. This conflicts with the results of the Report, but the officials at the DOL have readily admitted to the current discrepancies in processing times and problems with delays through the Atlanta Center. ©MurthyDotCom The FLC states that, during the reporting period, 85,204 cases were certified with the top five states of intended employment being California, New York, Florida, Texas, and New Jersey. Interestingly, 82.4 percent of all LCs are for individuals already in the U.S. in nonimmigrant status, such as H1B. The positions of Computer Software Engineers (Applications and Systems) and Computer Systems Analyst were the top occupations for which LCs were filed. The country of origin with the most workers seeking labor certifications was India, more than triple the next represented group of China. ©MurthyDotCom Temporary Labor Certification Programs ©MurthyDotCom The most common temporary LC program is in connection with H1B petitions. The H1B program is for specialty occupations requiring at least a bachelor's degree. While a labor market test generally is not required, the employer must make certain attestations as to conditions of employment that are regulated by the FLC. Employers must attest that the wage offered is at least equal to the actual wage paid by the employer to other workers with similar experience and qualifications for the job; or, alternatively, the prevailing wage for the occupation in the area of intended employment, whichever is greater. A Labor Condition Application (LCA) is filed with the FLC through an on-line system. The majority of H1Bs are in the information technology field, according to the Report. The FLC Report mentions that over 385,000 LCAs were issued during the reporting period. We note that many individual cases involve more than one LCA, as they are location-specific. ©MurthyDotCom Conclusion - Atlanta Needs to Process Cases Faster ©MurthyDotCom We appreciate the FLC's providing the Performance Report to give users of the Foreign Labor Certification Programs a glimpse into the volume and types of filings made by employers and foreign nationals. The DOL appears to be making strides in streamlining their programs and providing the necessary resources to improve its systems. We share the concern of many that the adjudication times of the Atlanta National Processing Center for PERM are far longer than those of Chicago, however. It is our hope that the DOL will take action to bring the adjudication times for Atlanta in line with Chicago, so that there are not significant variances based upon jurisdiction.
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