20 C.F.R. § 653.501 Requirements for accepting and processing clearance orders.
Title 20 - Employees' Benefits
(a) In view of the statutorily established basic function of the job service as a no-fee labor exchange, that is, as a forum for bringing together employers and job seekers, neither the ETA nor the State agencies are guarantors of the accuracy or truthfulness of information contained on job orders submitted by employers. Nor does any job order accepted or recruited upon by the JS constitute a contractual job offer to which the ETA or a State agency is in any way a party. Nevertheless, if the ETA or a State agency discovers that an employer's job order contains a material misrepresentation, the procedures of subpart F of part 658 of this chapter shall be followed. (b) Intrastate and interstate job orders shall include the language of the first two sentences of paragraph (a) of this section. (c) No local office or State agency shall place into intrastate or interstate clearance any job order seeking workers to perform agricultural or food processing work before reviewing it pursuant to paragraphs (d) or (e) of this section, as applicable. (d) No local office shall place a job order seeking workers to perform agricultural or food processing work into intrastate clearance unless: (1) The job order does not contain an unlawful discriminatory specification by race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, or mental or physical status unrelated to job performance (handicap); (2) The employer has signed the job order and the job order states all the material terms and conditions of the employment, including: (i) The crop; (ii) The nature of the work; (iii) The anticipated period and hours of employment; (iv) The anticipated starting and ending date of employment and the anticipated number of days and hours per week for which work will be available; (v) An assurance that: (A) The employer will provide to workers referred through the clearance system the number of hours of work cited in paragraph (d)(2)(iv) of this section for the week beginning with the anticipated date of need, unless the employer has amended the date of need at least 10 working days prior to the original date of need (pursuant to paragraph (d)(2)(xiii) of this section) by so notifying the order-holding office. The State agency shall make a record of this notification and shall attempt to inform referred migrant workers of the change in accordance with the following procedure: (B) All workers referred through the clearance system, farm labor contractors on behalf of migrant workers or family heads on behalf of migrant family members referred through the clearance system shall be notified to contact a local job service office, preferably the order-holding office, to verify the date of need cited no sooner than 9 working days and no later than 5 working days prior to the original date of need cited on the job order; and that failure to do so will disqualify the referred migrant worker from the assurance provided in paragraphs (a) and (d) of this section. (C) If the worker referred through the clearance system contacts a local office (in any State) other than the order holding office, that local office shall assist the referred worker in contacting the order holding office on a timely basis. Such assistance shall include, if necessary, contacting the order holding office by telephone or other timely means on behalf of the worker referred through the clearance system. (D) If the employer fails to notify the order-holding office at least 10 working days prior to the original date of need the employer shall pay eligible (pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section) workers referred through the clearance system the specified hourly rate of pay, or in the absence of a specified hourly rate of pay, the higher of the Federal or State minimum wage for the first week starting with the originally anticipated date of need. (E) Employers may require workers to perform alternative work if the guarantee in this section is invoked and if such alternative work is stated on the job order. (F) For the purposes of this assurance, “working days” shall mean those days that the order-holding local office is open for public business. (vi) The hourly wage rate or the piece rate estimated in hourly wage rate equivalents for each activity and unit size; (vii) Any deductions to be made from wages; (viii) A specification of any non-monetary benefits to be provided by the employer; (ix) Any hours, days or weeks for which work is guaranteed, and, for each guaranteed week of work except as provided in paragraph (d)(2)(v) of this section, the exclusive manner in which the grarantee may be abated due to weather conditions or other acts of God beyond the employer's control; (x) Any bonus or work incentive payments or other expenses which will be paid by the employer in addition to the basic wage rate, including the anticipated time period(s) within which such payments will be made. No such payments, however, shall be made contingent upon the worker continuing employment beyond the period of employment specified in the job order or, in the case of any worker with children, beyond the time needed to return home for the beginning of the school year; (xi) An assurance that no extension of employment beyond the period of employment specified in the job order shall relieve the employer from paying the wages already earned, or if specified in the job order as a term of employment, providing transportation or paying transportation expenses to the worker's home; (xii) Assurances that the working conditions comply with applicable Federal and State minimum wage, child labor, social security, health and safety, farm labor contractor registration and other employment-related laws; (xiii) An assurance that the employer will expeditiously notify the order-holding local office or State agency by telephone immediately upon learning that a crop is maturing earlier or later, or that weather conditions, over-recruitment or other factors have changed the terms and conditions of employment. For orders submitted in conjunction with requests for foreign workers, an assurance that the employer will follow-up the telephone notification in writing. (xiv) An assurance that the employer, if acting as a farm labor contractor (“FLC”) or farm labor contractor employee (“FLCE”) on the order, has a valid FLC certificate or FLCE identification card; and (xv) An assurance of the availability of no cost or public housing which meets the Federal standards and which is sufficient to house the specified number of workers requested through the clearance system. This assurance shall cover the availability of housing for only those workers, and, when applicable, family members who are unable to return to their residence in the same day. (xvi) An assurance that outreach workers shall have reasonable access to the workers in the conduct of outreach activities pursuant to §653.107. (3) The job order contains all the material terms and conditions of the job, and the employer assures that all items therein are actual conditions of the job by signing the following statement: “This job order describes the actual terms and conditions of the employment being offered by me and contains all the material terms and conditions of the job”; (4) The wages and working conditions offered are not less than the prevailing wages and working conditions among similarly employed agricultural workers in the area of intended employment or the applicable Federal or State minimum wage, whichever is higher. If the wages offered are expressed as piece rates or as base rates and bonuses, the employer shall make the method of calculating the wage and supporting materials available to JS staff who shall check if the employer's calculation of the estimated hourly wage rate is reasonably accurate and is not less than the prevailing wage rate or applicable Federal or State minimum wage, whichever is higher; (5) The employer has agreed to provide or pay for the transportation of the workers and their families on at least the same terms as transportation is commonly provided by employers in the area of intended employment to agricultural workers and their families recruited from the same area of supply; (6) JS staff have determined, through a preoccupancy housing inspection performed by JS staff or other appropriate public agencies, that the housing assured by the employer is in fact available, and meets the full set of standards set forth at 20 CFR part 654, subpart E which details applicable housing standards and contains provisions for conditional access to the clearance system; except that mobile range housing for sheepherders shall meet existing Departmental guidelines; and (7) The local office and employer have attempted and have not been able to obtain sufficient workers within the local labor market area, or the local office anticipates a shortage of local workers. (e) No state agency shall place a job order seeking workers to perform agricultural or food processing work with interstate clearance unless: (1) The job order meets the requirements set forth at paragraphs (d)(1) through (d)(6) of this section; (2) The State agency and the employer have attempted and have not been able to locate sufficient workers within the state, or the State agency anticipates a shortage of workers within the State; and (3) The order has been reviewed and approved by the ETA regional office within 10 working days after receipt from the State agency, and the Regional Administrator has approved the areas of supply to which the order shall be extended. Any denial by the Regional Administrator shall be in writing and set forth the reasons for the denial. (f) (1) The local office shall use the agricultural clearance form prescribed by ETA, and shall see that all necessary items on the form are completed, including items on attachments to the form prescribed by ETA. (2) (i) The original of an interstate agricultural clearance form shall be retained for the order-holding local office files. If the clearance order is submitted in conjunction with a request for certification of temporary alien agricultural workers, the procedures at 20 CFR 655.204(a) shall be followed. For other clearance orders, the order-holding local office shall transmit a complete copy to the State office. The State office shall distribute additional copies of the form with all attachments except that the State agency may, at its discretion, delegate this distribution to the local office, as follows: (A) At least one clear copy to each of the State agencies selected for recruitment (areas of supply); (B) One copy to each applicant-holding ETA regional office; (C) One copy to the order-holding ETA regional office; and (D) One copy to the Regional Farm Labor Coordinated Enforcement Committee in the area of employment, Attn: ESA Regional Administrator. (ii) Applicant-holding offices shall provide workers referred on clearance orders with a checklist summarizing wages, working conditions and other material specifications on the job order. Such checklists, where necessary, shall be in English and Spanish. The checklist shall include language notifying the worker that a copy of the complete order is available for inspection. One copy of the form with all attachments shall be available for inspection in the applicant-holding office and the order-holding office. State agencies shall use a standard checklist format provided by ETA unless a variance has been approved by the Regional Administrator. (iii) The applicant-holding office shall give each referred worker a copy of a description of worker's rights developed by the National Farm Labor Coordinated Enforcement Committee. (g) The local office may place an intrastate or interstate order seeking workers to perform agricultural or food processing work for a specific farm labor contractor or worker preferred by the employer provided the order meets JS nondiscrimination criteria. The order would not meet such criteria, for example, if it requested a “white male crew leader” or “any white male crew leader.” (h) In local offices which have been designated significant MSFW bilingual offices by ETA, and in any other local office with bilingual staff, bilingual (English-Spanish) staff shall assist all agricultural workers, upon request, to understand the terms and conditions of employment set forth in intrastate and interstate job orders and shall provide such workers with checklists in Spanish showing wage payment schedules, working conditions and other material specifications of the job order. (i) No agricultural or food processing order shall be included in job bank listings available outside the local office commuting area unless the order has been processed according to requirements for intrastate or interstate clearance contained in this subpart. If the job bank for the local office area incorporates offices beyond the local office commuting area, the order may be included in the listing but must be clearly designated as prohibiting referral from outside the community area, unless the requirements of this subpart are met. (j) If the labor supply State agency accepts a clearance order, the State agency shall actively recruit workers for referral. In the event a potential labor supply State agency rejects a clearance order, the reasons for rejection shall be documented and submitted to the Regional Administrator having jurisdiction over the State agency. The Regional Administrator will examine the reasons for rejection, and, if the Regional Administrator agrees, will inform the Regional Administrator with jurisdiction over the order-holding State agency of the rejection and the justifiable reasons. If the Regional Administrator who receives the notification of rejection does not concur with the reasons for rejection, that Regional Administrator will so inform the OWI Administrator, who will make a final determination on the acceptance or rejection of the order. (Pub. L. No. 96–511, 94 Stat. 2812 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.)) [45 FR 39466, June 10, 1980, as amended at 47 FR 145, Jan. 5, 1982; 71 FR 35518, June 21, 2006]
Title 20: Employees' Benefits
PART 653—SERVICES OF THE EMPLOYMENT SERVICE SYSTEM
Subpart F—Agricultural Clearance Order Activity
§ 653.501 Requirements for accepting and processing clearance orders.
