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Announcements
April 15, 2025. The Department of Labor Announces Additional Guidance to the H-2A Program in Washington State for Non-Range Occupations; Compliance with District Court Order.
Background
On March 28, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington issued a preliminary injunction order in Familias Unidas Por La Justicia v. DOL, et al., No. 24-cv-00637,, enjoining the Department of Labor (Department or DOL) as to its approval of H-2A job orders submitted by certain employers seeking temporary labor certification for work performed in the state of Washington that list only the hourly Adverse Effect Wage Rate (“AEWR”) as an offered wage when there is an applicable prevailing piece rate wage for the particular crop or agricultural activity (“AEWR-only job orders”).
Specifically, the Familias order requires DOL to:
- Immediately rescind and modify all AEWR-only job orders approved for beneficiaries of the Barton preliminary injunction located in Washington since November 25, 2024;
- Inform all relevant employers in Washington that to continue to employ H-2A workers, they must unequivocally offer and pay the conforming prevailing piece rate wage under the 2020-Survey prevailing wage rates in compliance with the Ninth Circuit’s conclusion on the application of 20 C.F.R. §§ 655.120(a) and 655.122(l) in Torres Hernandez v. Su, 2024 WL 2559562, at *1 (9th Cir. May 24, 2024);
- Inform all relevant employers in Washington that they must expeditiously disclose updated terms and conditions of work to their employees; and
- Take immediate action to ensure that all current and future proposed job orders for the 2025 season are reviewed for compliance consistent with this Order.
Additional Guidance
The Department has sought relief from the March 28, 2025 Familias order by requesting the Western District of Washington reconsider its decision and partially vacate the parts of the order that require retroactive application.
The Department’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification (“OFLC”) is also taking action to ensure that job orders filed by employers in connection with current and future Applications for Temporary Employment Certification covering places of employment located in Washington state comply with the Familias order. Specifically, where such job orders propose to only offer the hourly AEWR and/or fail to “unequivocally offer” (i.e., terms that are clear and leave no doubt) an applicable prevailing piece rate wage for a particular crop or agricultural activity covered by active prevailing wage rates for Washington state available on the OFLC Agricultural Online Wage Library, the OFLC Certifying Officer (“CO”) will issue a Notice of Deficiency under 20 CFR 655.141 or Notice of Required Modification to the job order under 20 CFR 655.121(h) and provide the employer with an opportunity to submit a modified Application for Temporary Employment Certification or job order prior to the issuance of a Notice of Acceptance or final determination.
April 3, 2025. The Department of Labor Announces Update to the H-2A Program in Washington State for Non-Range Occupations; Assessing Options for Compliance with Latest District Court Order.
On March 28, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington issued a preliminary injunction order in Familias Unidas Por La Justicia v. DOL, et al., No. 24-cv-00637, enjoining the Department of Labor as to its approval of H-2A job orders submitted by certain employers seeking temporary labor certification for work performed in the State of Washington that list only the hourly Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) as an offered wage when there is an active prevailing piece rate wage for the particular crop or agricultural activity (“AEWR-only job orders”).
As a result of this order, the Department is assessing options for compliance, and employers who may be impacted by this order will experience a temporary delay in the processing of their H-2A job orders or Applications for Temporary Labor Certification. The Department will issue additional information and guidance with respect to this order as soon as possible.
March 24, 2025. Updated Notice: Deletion of Records from FLAG
The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) reminds stakeholders that it will begin permanently deleting records in the Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) for which a final determination was made more than five years ago. The records will be deleted as required by OFLC’s records disposition schedule with the National Archives and Records Administration.
Employers and their representatives must download any records they need from FLAG prior to OFLC commencing the deletion of records more than five years old. To ensure sufficient time to access and download necessary records, OFLC has extended the deadline to do so by one week. OFLC will begin deleting records at 12:00 AM EDT on Thursday, March 27, 2025.
Programs Affected
The following OFLC programs will be impacted by this implementation:
- Prevailing Wage Determinations (PWD)
- Temporary Labor Certification Applications (H-2A, H-2B, CW-1 visas)
- Temporary Labor Condition Applications (H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 visas)
If you have case older than five (5) years from the date of final determination within the FLAG system, please remember to download these cases no later than March 26, 2025.
Disclaimer: The deletion of records is permanent therefore they cannot be obtained by any means. Deleted records will no longer be accessible to either filers or OFLC and cannot be retrieved upon records requests.
March 24, 2025. Office of Foreign Labor Certification Publishes the 2025 Update to Allowable Charges for H-2A Workers’ Meals and H-2A and H-2B Travel Subsistence Reimbursement, Including Lodging
The Employment and Training Administration has issued a notice in the Federal Register to announce the annual updated dollar amount H-2A employers may charge workers, other than workers in herding or production of livestock on the range occupations, for providing meals and the maximum and minimum rate at which H-2A and H-2B workers must be reimbursed for travel-related subsistence expenses, including lodging. The notice also includes a reminder of the continuing obligation of H-2A and H-2B employers to pay certain transportation-related expenses workers incur while traveling to and from H-2A and H-2B employment.
March 11, 2025. Reminder Notice: Deletion of Records from FLAG
The Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC), record deletion program will begin at 12:00 mid-night on Thursday, March 20, 2025.
Programs Affected
The following OFLC programs will be impacted by this implementation:
- Prevailing Wage Determinations (PWD)
- Permanent Labor Certification Applications (PERM)
- Temporary Labor Certification Applications (H-2A, H-2B, CW-1 visas)
- Temporary Labor Condition Applications (H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 visas)
If you have cases older than five (5) years from the date of final determination within the FLAG system, please remember to download these cases no later than March 19, 2025.
March 4th, 2025. OFLC Announces Webinar on March 19, 2025, to Provide Technical Assistance to Stakeholders on the Process for Filing CW-1 Applications for Employment in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
The Office of Foreign Labor Certification invites interested stakeholders to participate in a webinar that provides technical assistance and helpful tips for preparing the CW-1 Application for Prevailing Wage Determination (Form ETA-9141C), the Application for Temporary Employment Certification (Form ETA-9142C), the CW-1 Job Vacancy Announcement, and recruitment reports. The webinar also will cover some of the most pressing and common post-filing issues employers encounter.
Meeting Details:
March 19, 2025, 7:00 PM | (UTC-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada) | 1 hr / March 20, 2025, 9:00AM | (UTC+10:00) Chamorro Standard Time | 1 hr
Join from the meeting link: https://usdol.webex.com/usdol/j.php?MTID=m736d0c4906ce6cf8319b2c8522f79598
Join by meeting number:
Meeting number (access code): 2822 028 1568
Meeting password: OFLCCW12025
Tap to join from a mobile device (attendees only):
1-877-465-7975, # US Toll Free
+1-210-795-0506, # US Toll
Join by phone:
1-877-465-7975 US Toll Free
1-210-795-0506 US Toll
February 14, 2025. OFLC Releases Public Disclosure Data and Selected Program Statistics for Q1 of Fiscal Year 2024
The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) has released a comprehensive set of public disclosure data (through the first quarter of fiscal year 2025) drawn from employer applications requesting prevailing wage determinations and labor certifications for the PERM, LCA (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3), H-2A, H-2B, CW-1, and Prevailing Wage programs.
Please Note: OFLC recently implemented the revised form ETA-9089. As a result, there will be two distinct PERM disclosure data files. These files will each have their own record layout documents.
The public disclosure files include all final determinations OFLC issued for these programs during the October 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024 reporting period of fiscal year 2025.
OFLC has also released selected program statistics for the first quarter of fiscal year 2025 for the PERM, LCA (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3), H-2A, H-2B, CW-1, and Prevailing Wage programs.
- View the public disclosure files and corresponding record layouts containing detailed descriptions of each available data element.
- View the selected program statistics containing key program information.
February 14, 2025. OFLC Releases the H-2B Foreign Labor Recruiter List for Q1 of Fiscal Year 2025
The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) has published an updated list of the names of foreign labor recruiters for the H-2B program as required by 20 CFR 655.9(c).
The list contains the name and location of persons or entities identified on Appendix C of the Form ETA-9142B that were hired by, or working for, the recruiter that employers have indicated they engaged, or planned to engage, in the recruitment of prospective H-2B workers to perform the work described on their H-2B application.
The H-2B Foreign Labor Recruiter List includes only those names and locations associated with H-2B applications that were processed or issued a final decision during the October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2024.
By publishing the foreign labor recruiter list, OFLC is ensuring greater transparency for the H-2B worker recruitment process and facilitating information sharing between the U.S. Department of Labor and other agencies.
February 14, 2025: Notice to Stakeholders regarding aligning record retention activities with regulatory requirements established by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
The Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is providing notice that the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) will be aligning record retention activities with regulatory requirements established by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) (36 CFR 1220.2), the General Services Administration (GSA), and the approved Record Control Schedule DAA-0369-2022-0001. OFLC is providing public notice regarding its implementation of the approved Record Control Schedule which requires the deletion of records within Foreign Labor Access Gateway (FLAG) that are older than five (5) years from the final determination date.
Programs Affected
The following OFLC programs will be impacted by this implementation:
- Prevailing Wage Determinations (PWD)
- Permanent Labor Certification Applications (PERM)
- Temporary Labor Certification Applications (H-2A, H-2B, CW-1 visas)
- Temporary Labor Condition Applications (H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 visas)
Deletion Schedule
Implementation of the approved Record Control Schedule will begin on and after Thursday, March 20, 2025. Deletions of eligible case records will be based on the final determination date recorded in the FLAG System of each case. For example, cases with a final determination date of March 21, 2020, will be deleted on March 21, 2025.
Stakeholder Action Required
If you have case records in FLAG older than five years from the final determination date that you would like to retain, please ensure that they are downloaded no later than March 20, 2025.
Additional Information
The NARA Records Schedule provides mandatory (disposition instructions) for managing agency records. Records classified as “permanent” due to historical value are transferred to the National Archives of the United States at the end of their retention period. All other records are classified as “temporary” and will be destroyed in accordance with the NARA Records Schedule or the Record Control Schedule DAA-0369-2022-0001.
Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) Program Records
POC: OFLC Info Management OFLCInfoManagement@dol.gov
January 6, 2025. OFLC Publishes List of Randomized H-2B Applications Submitted January 1-3 for Employers Seeking H-2B Workers Starting April 1, 2025
To keep the public informed regarding the submission and assignment of H-2B applications for review, the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) published the assignment group(s) for 8,759 H-2B applications covering 149,953 worker positions with the start date of work of April 1, 2025.
Following the randomization procedures published in the Federal Register on March 4, 2019, OFLC completed the randomization process on January 4 and assigned to National Processing Center analysts all H-2B applications placed in Assignment Group A for issuance of Notices of Deficiency or Acceptance. Group A includes enough worker positions to reach the H-2B semi-annual visa allotment of 33,000.
On January 4, 2025, OFLC provided written notice to each employer (and the employer's authorized attorney or agent) informing them about the Assignment Group for their application(s).
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