Improving Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Foreign Nationals in the United States
This is a proposal open for comment, not a rule in force. It may never be finalised, and it creates no obligation today.
The Department of Labor (DOL or the Department) is issuing this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to solicit comments and public input regarding its proposal to revise Employment and Training Administration (ETA) regulations governing the prevailing wages for employment opportunities that United States (U.S.) employers seek to fill with alien workers on a permanent or temporary basis through certain EB-2 and EB-3 employment-based immigrant visas via the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) program or through H-1B, H-1B1, or E-3 nonimmigrant visas. Specifically, DOL is proposing to amend its regulations governing the PERM program and Labor Condition Applications (LCAs) to incorporate changes to the computation of wage levels under the Department's four-tiered prevailing wage structure based on the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) wage survey administered by the Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). These proposed revisions aim to better align prevailing wage levels with the wages paid to U.S. workers who are similarly employed in the occupation and area of intended employment. The Department's proposed revisions also seek to strengthen program integrity by reducing the incentive for employers to use these programs to replace, rather than supplement, U.S. workers by employing lower-paid alien workers. In addition, the revision would enable the Department to more effectively ensure that the employment of immigrant and nonimmigrant workers admitted or otherwise provided one of the covered statuses does not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers.
What this means
- This is a proposal open for comment, not a rule. It changes nothing today, and it may be altered or never finalised. (classification: proposed_rule)
- The document names EB-3 third preference, H-1B specialty occupation, H-2B temporary non-agricultural, EB-2 second preference. It may identify others — read the original to be sure. (impact.stated (partial))
- The document states a requirement for the people it covers. The exact wording is quoted above — whether it applies to any particular person depends on facts this platform does not have. (impact.actionRequired)
Derived from this event’s own recorded fields — not written by a model, and not an interpretation of anyone’s case.
Who is affected
What the document says may be required
The document states a requirement for those it covers. The exact obligation, and whether it applies to a particular person, depends on the document's own terms — the relevant passage is quoted below.
“The INA provides for five ``preference'' categories, or immigrant visa classes, only two of which--the second and third preference employment categories (commonly called the EB-2 and EB-3 immigrant visa classifications)--generally require a labor certification.\17\ An employer seeking to sponsor an alien worker for an immigrant visa under the EB-2 or EB-3 preference categories generally must file…”
This list may be incomplete — the document may identify others. Read the original. Assembled from the source document, not from anyone's individual circumstances. Whether a change applies to a specific person depends on facts this platform does not have. This is data context, not legal advice.
- This is a PROPOSED rule. It is not in force, may change before finalisation, and may never be finalised.