Foreign Labor Certification
Prevailing Wage Determinations
Posting Job Orders
H-2A Application, Job Order, and Housing Inspection Process
Contact Information
Foreign Labor Certification
The foreign labor certification program permits U.S. employers to hire foreign workers on a temporary or permanent basis to fill jobs essential to the U.S. economy, including agricultural (H-2A) and non-agricultural (H-2B). Certification may be obtained in cases where it can be demonstrated that there are insufficient qualified U.S. workers available and willing to perform the work at wages that meet or exceed the prevailing wage paid for that occupation in the area of intended employment. Foreign labor certification programs are designed to assure that the admission of foreign workers into the United States on a permanent or temporary basis will not adversely affect the job opportunities, wages, and working conditions of U.S. workers.
The procedures for filing all foreign labor certification applications are found in the following websites:
US Department of Labor
H-2A Certification
H-2B Certification
The NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development role is to assist New Jersey employers by processing job orders for two temporary alien labor programs, H-2A and H-2B. The H-2A temporary agricultural program establishes a means for agricultural employers who anticipate a shortage of domestic workers to bring nonimmigrant foreign workers to the U.S. to perform agricultural labor or services of a temporary or seasonal nature. The H-2B nonimmigrant program permits employers to hire foreign workers to come temporarily to the U.S. and perform temporary nonagricultural services or labor on a one-time, seasonal, peak load or intermittent basis. Job orders for these programs are processed by NJ staff and the subsequent documentation provided enables employers to submit their labor certification applications directly to the USDOL. Upon approval of the application by USDOL, appropriate visas are provided to the employer by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Prevailing Wage Determinations
To obtain a prevailing wage rate for non-agricultural workers, an application is submitted directly to the National Prevailing Wage and Helpdesk Center, using ETA Form 9141. Instructions for this form can be found on the U.S. Department of Labor website.
Under the H-2A Program, the employer must offer, recruit at, and pay a wage that is the highest of the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) in effect at the time the job order is placed, the prevailing hourly or piece rate, the agreed-upon collective bargaining rate (CBA), or the Federal or State minimum wage. If a new AEWR is published, or the employer is notified of a new prevailing wage rate during the contract period and the application process, the employer will increase the pay of all employees in the same job occupation to the higher rate.
AWER rates for each State are available for download at: http://www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/adverse.cfm
Agricultural prevailing wage rate schedules for each State are available for download at: http://www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/aowl.cfm
Posting Job Orders
Attention Employers placing H2B Job Orders for temporary non-agricultural workers: Please be aware that beginning April 23, 2012 the USDOL new rules and regulations are in effect. Before posting your job order please make sure that all the new requirements are included. There are 18 items that must be included in your job posting. For information on what should be included in your job order, please access pages 37 and 38 of USDOL’s Briefing Presentation on the new rules.
http://www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/pdf/H_2B_2012_Briefing_Presentation.pdf
Until New Jersey’s job order form is redesigned to compensate for the new ruling, please place the additional required information in the Job Description section. In addition, job orders may not be placed before 90 days of your first “date of need” but must be placed by 75 days before your first “date of need” (e.g. Date of Need is July 1, 2012 means you may not place the job order before April 2, 2012 but you must post by April 17, 2012). All job orders will remain open until 21 days before your date of need; therefore, the 30 day and 10/20 day options are no longer in effect.
After the H-2B job order request is received and entered into New Jersey's Job Bank by LWD staff, a confirmation will be emailed to the employer and/or Agent. The emailed confirmation will include a copy of the job order, opening and closing dates, and the job order number. An email address must be provided to receive a confirmation.
H-2B JOB ORDER FORM
Job orders for permanent foreign labor certification applications (PERM and H-1B) should be posted using the General Job Order Form.
View A Job Posting
Please allow at least 72 hours for the job order to post on NJ's Job Bank.
View your order on NJ's Job Bank.
If you received a NJ Job Order Number, use capital letters (e.g. NJ0000000) to search for the job posting using the Job ID search tool on NJ's Job Bank.
H-2A Application, Job Order, and Housing Inspection Process
The employer must request inspection of his farm labor housing at least 60 days in anticipation of his date of hiring need. The employer must prepare a job offer on the ETA Form 790 (Agricultural and Food Processing Clearance Order) along with a set of assurances attached to the ETA 790 and a form ETA Form 9142 (Application for Temporary Employment Certification) and submit a copy of the complete package and all attachments to the SWA (State Workforce Agency) for interstate- intrastate clearance.
The following requirements must be met:
- The job order must be submitted to the SWA no more than 75 calendar days and no fewer than 60 calendar days before the start date of the job;
- The job order must be identified as one that will be used in connection with a future filed Application for Temporary Employment Certification (ETA Form 9142) with the U.S. Department of Labor; and
- The contents of the job order must satisfy the requirements of 20 CFR part 653, subpart F and 20 CFR 655.122. After the H-2A job order is received and entered into New Jersey’s Job Bank by SWA staff, a confirmation will be faxed or e-mail to the employer.
Complete application package (ETA Form 9142, ETA 790 and attached set of assurances and supporting documentation) original forms may be mailed or delivered by private mail courier to the following address:
U.S. Department of Labor - ETA
Chicago National Processing Center
536 South Clark Street, 9th Floor
Chicago, IL 60605 -1509
Attention: H-2A Program Unit
A complete copy of the application package may be mailed or delivered by private mail courier to the State Workforce Agency (SWA) at the following address:
Farm Labor Coordinator
New Jersey Dept. of Labor-LWD
44 White Horse Pike, Suite-C
Hammonton NJ, 08037
Attention: H-2A Program Unit
Contact Information
Questions on the labor certification application process should be directed to the Chicago National Processing Center at 312-886-8000.
Questions regarding the New Jersey State H-2B Job Order process can be addressed to the Alien Labor Certification Unit at 609-292-5879.
Proof of filing requests must be submitted in writing and faxed or emailed to the ALCU.
NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development
Alien Labor Certification Unit
PO Box 053
Trenton, NJ 08625-0053
alienlaborcert@dol.state.nj.us
Phone: (609) 292-5879
Fax: (609) 777-3570
