DOL Announces H-1B "Online Advisor" for Employers and Employees
05/14/2010
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) today unveiled a new tool to help employers and others understand how to comply with requirements under the H-1B visa program. DOL's new "Online Advisor" tool describes the program's standards and provides detailed information about employers' and workers' rights and responsibilities. It outlines notification requirements, monetary issues, worksite issues, recordkeeping, worker protections and enforcement.
Although responsibilities for the H-1B visa program are shared among the Labor Department's Office of Foreign Labor Certification and Wage and Hour Division, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) and the U.S. Department of State, the new advisor tool focuses on compliance with the many requirements enforced by DOL's Wage and Hour Division (WHD).
Contrary to crtics' vocal and ongoing claims of lax enforcement, WHD has been aggressively investigating allegations of H-1B fraud, wage violations, worker displacement, and other malfeasance by H-1B employers for many years. Combined with strong new investigative measures and site visits implemented by USCIS, H-1B and Labor Condition Application (LCA) compliance issues have clearly taken on priority status for the DHS and DOL components involved in immigration-related enforcement measures.
A copy of DOL's news release and a link to the "online advisor" tool appear below.
Related Items
DOL Press Release on H-1B Online Advisor
DOL "Online Advisor" for H-1B Employers and Employees