The U.S. Department of Labor recently announced changes in the H-2B temporary worker program, which allows workers from overseas into the United States whenever qualified Americans are unavailable to fulfill a specific role and when the employment of those foreign workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers. The program enables employers “to hire foreign workers, usually for less than a year, to come to the U.S. for non-agriculture jobs”.
Every year up to 66,000 visas of this kind are issued, which in the current job market gets many Americans furious.
The new regulations seem to try its best to make it easier for jobless Americans to get a temporary work, rather than giving these jobs away to foreign workers. This means tighter restrictions for overseas workers who wish to snag the same jobs but also strengthens worker protections for them.
Employers will also have to follow stricter guidelines to make sure that all possibilities of U.S. workers have been explored before giving away a job to a foreign worker.
The Final Rule
The changes to the administration of this type of visa will revise the process by which employers obtain a temporary labor certification from the DOL for use of petitioning the Department of Homeland Security to employ a nonimmigrant worker in H-2B status. The final rule also introduces new regulations that provide increased protections to both U.S. and foreign temporary workers.
One of the major features of this final rule includes “the creation of a national electronic job registry for all H-2B job orders to improve U.S. worker access to these temporary jobs”. This enhances the recruitment of American workers, increases the amount of time for which American workers must be recruited and hired, and requires the rehiring of former employees whenever available.
In addition, the H-2B program benefits such as transportation costs and wages will be extended to U.S. workers performing substantially the same work as H-2B workers. Worker protections also will be strengthened by enhanced transparency throughout the employment process.
Eliminating abuses
The changes to the program come after a series of abuses towards H-2B temporary workers. Some foreign workers rights associations have testified that employers regularly pay less to a guest worker than they would to a local worker, also avoiding overtime pay, providing poor working conditions and requiring excessive recruiting fees.
The new regulations prohibit recruiter fees and retaliation for workers who file for complaints or organize in any way.
The new regulations take effect April 23. It can be viewed at www.dol.gov. Materials, including fact sheets, are available at www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov and www.dol.gov.
What is an H-2B guest worker?
- The H-2B nonimmigrant program permits employers to hire foreign workers to come temporarily to the U.S. and perform nonagricultural services or labor on a one-time, seasonal, peakload or intermittent basis.
- The employer must indicate that: There are not sufficient U.S. workers who are capable of performing the temporary services and the employment of the foreign worker will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers.
Tags: foreign workers Legislation
