Department of Labor (DOL) Open Forum on Holiday Recruitment

From: USADNEWS Volume III, Issue 6

The Department of Labor (DOL) held an open forum at the AILA Conference on Friday, June 5, 2009. One of the participants in the discussion was Dr. William Carlson, Administrator of the Office of Foreign Labor Certification. Dr. Carlson expressed that much of what his office had learned about the PERM process gave them pause. He indicated that although the regulations permit recruitment on holiday weekends, the DOL remained concerned. When his office asked people on the street if they look for jobs on holiday weekends, the answer they received was an unequivocal “no.” Therefore, when making a determination if recruitment was done in good faith, Dr. Carlson stated that his office will take into account whether ads were placed on a holiday weekend.

Another factor that Dr. Carlson described as being used to determine a bona fide recruitment campaign, is the “metropolitan statistical area” where the recruitment took place. For example: If the New York Timesreports that 400,000 jobs were shed in the New York area in a particular field, the DOL would take that into account when approving a request for a labor certification in the same field in that vicinity.

Dr. Carlson further indicated that an examination of current market conditions would be used to determine the availability of US workers for an employer’s recruitment.

You may find it helpful to keep these factors in mind when preparing a labor certification case.