20 C.F.R. § 655.90 Scope and purpose of subpart B.
Title 20 - Employees' Benefits
(a) General. This subpart sets out the procedures established by the Secretary of Labor to acquire information sufficient to make factual determinations of: (1) Whether there are sufficient able, willing, and qualified U.S. workers available to perform the temporary and seasonal agricultural employment for which an employer desires to import nonimmigrant foreign workers (H–2A workers); and (2) whether the employment of H–2A workers will adversely effect the wages and working conditions of workers in the U.S. similarly employed. Under the authority of the INA, the Secretary of Labor has promulgated the regulations in this subpart. This subpart sets forth the requirements and procedures applicable to requests for certification by employers seeking the services of temporary foreign workers in agriculture. This subpart provides the Secretary's methodology for the two-fold determination of availability of domestic workers and of any adverse effect which would be occasioned by the use of foreign workers, for particular temporary and seasonal agricultural jobs in the United States. (b) The statutory standard. (1) A petitioner for H–2A workers must apply to the Secretary of Labor for a certification that, as stated in the INA:
(A) There are not sufficient workers who are able, willing, and qualified, and who will be available at the time and place needed, to perform the labor or services involved in the petition, and (B) The employment of the alien in such labor or services will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of workers in the United States similarly employed. (2) Section 216(b) of the INA further requires that the Secretary may not issue a certification if the conditions regarding U.S. worker availability and adverse effect are not met, and may not issue a certification if, as stated in the INA:
(1) There is a strike or lockout in the course of a labor dispute which, under the regulations, precludes such certification. (2)(A) The employer during the previous two-year period employed H–2A workers and the Secretary has determined, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, that the employer at any time during that period substantially violated a material term or condition of the labor certification with respect to the employment of domestic or non-immigrant workers. (B) No employer may be denied certification under subparagraph (A) for more than three years for any violation described in such subparagraph. (3) The employer has not provided the Secretary with satisfactory assurances that if the employment for which the certification is sought is not covered by State workers' compensation law, the employer will provide, at no cost to the worker, insurance covering injury and disease arising out of and in the course of the worker's employment which will provide benefits at least equal to those provided under the State workers' compensation law for comparable employment. (4) The Secretary determines that the employer has not made positive recruitment efforts within a multistate region of traditional or expected labor supply where the Secretary finds that there are a significant number of qualified United States workers who, if recruited, would be willing to make themselves available for work at the time and place needed. Positive recruitment under this paragraph is in addition to, and shall be conducted within the same time period as, the circulation through the interstate employment service system of the employer's job offer. The obligation to engage in positive recruitment . . . shall terminate on the date the H–2A workers depart for the employer's place of employment. (3) Regarding the labor certification determination itself, section 216(c)(3) of the INA, as quoted in the following, specifically directs the Secretary to make the certification if:
(i) The employer has complied with the criteria for certification (including criteria for the recruitment of eligible individuals as prescribed by the Secretary), and (ii) The employer does not actually have, or has not been provided with referrals of, qualified individuals who have indicated their availability to perform such labor or services on the terms and conditions of a job offer which meets the requirements of the Secretary. (c) The Secretary's determinations. Before any factual determination can be made concerning the availability of U.S. workers to perform particular job opportunities, two steps must be taken. First, the minimum level of wages, terms, benefits, and conditions for the particular job opportunities below which similarly employed U.S. workers would be adversely affected must be established. (The regulations in this subpart establish such minimum levels for wages, terms, benefits, and conditions of employment). Second, the wages, terms, benefits, and conditions offered and afforded to the aliens must be compared to the established minimum levels. If it is concluded that adverse effect would result, the ultimate determination of availability within the meaning of the INA cannot be made since U.S. workers cannot be expected to accept employment under conditions below the established minimum levels. Florida Sugar Cane League, Inc. v. Usery, 531 F. 2d 299 (5th Cir. 1976). Once a determination of no adverse effect has been made, the availability of U.S. workers can be tested only if U.S. workers are actively recruited through the offer of wages, terms, benefits, and conditions at least at the minimum level or the level offered to the aliens, whichever is higher. The regulations in this subpart set forth requirements for recruiting U.S. workers in accordance with this principle. (d) Construction. This subpart shall be construed to effectuate the purpose of the INA that U.S. workers rather than aliens be employed wherever possible. Elton Orchards, Inc. v. Brennan, 508 F. 2d 493, 500 (1st Cir. 1974); Flecha v. Quiros, 567 F.2d 1154, 1156 (1st Cir. 1977). Where temporary alien workers are admitted, the terms and conditions of their employment must not result in a lowering of the wages, terms, and conditions of domestic workers similarly employed. Williams v. Usery, 531 F. 2d 305, 306 (5th Cir. 1976), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 1000, and the job benefits extended to any U.S. workers shall be at least those extended to the alien workers.
Title 20: Employees' Benefits
PART 655—TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT OF ALIENS IN THE UNITED STATES
Subpart B—Labor Certification Process for Temporary Agricultural Employment in the United States (H–2A Workers)
§ 655.90 Scope and purpose of subpart B.
