Department of Labor March 2, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the Department of Labor (Department) is issuing this Notice to announce the allowable charges for 2012 that employers seeking H-2A workers may charge their workers when the employer provides three meals a day, and the maximum meal reimbursement which a worker with receipts may claim. The Department is also providing clarification on the issue of overnight lodging costs as part of required subsistence, where necessary.

On February 21, 2012, the Department of Labor (the Department or DOL) published a Final Rule to amend the H-2B regulations at 20 CFR part 655 governing the certification of temporary employment of nonimmigrant workers in temporary or seasonal non-agricultural employment. See Temporary Non-Agricultural Employment of H-2B Aliens in the United States, Final Rule, 76 FR 10038, Feb. 21, 2012 (the H-2B Final Rule). The Department's H-2B Final Rule also created new regulations at 29 CFR part 503 to provide for enhanced enforcement under the H-2B program requirements should employers fail to meet their obligations under the H-2B program. The Department has also made changes to the Application for Temporary Employment Certification, ETA Form 9142 (OMB Control No. 1205-0466). The H-2B Final Rule is scheduled to become effective on April 23, 2012. The Department has scheduled three webinars and one public briefing to educate stakeholders, program users, and other interested members of the public on changes to the H-2B program made by the H-2B Final Rule and on applying for H-2B temporary labor certifications under the new regulations using the modified ETA Form 9142. As currently planned, the sessions will take place in March and early April, 2012. The in-person briefing will be held at DOL in Washington, DC This notice provides the public with dates, location, and registration information regarding the webinars and public briefing. These informational sessions are subject to change and/or cancellation without further notice in the Federal Register. However, the Department will post any changes related to the webinars on the Office of Foreign Labor Certification Web site at: https:// www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/ and will notify registered participants of any changes to the in-person briefing. Please note that the capacity of each webinar is limited to 200 concurrent participants. Ability to log in to a webinar session is established on a first-come, first-served basis; please note that all the webinars will cover essentially the same information. Participants will be able to log in approximately 30 minutes prior to the official start of the webinar listed below. We encourage organizations or other groups of participants to access the webinars at a single, centralized location to maximize attendance.