July 5 , 2007

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Planning to Hire Foreign Workers for Jobs in ’08? Start Now!

If you plan to hire foreign workers for temporary full-time jobs in the spring season of 2008, “now is the time to find a good agent,” says Libby Whitley of Más Labor, LLC, a firm that specializes in providing H2 labor services for employers. ”Familiarize yourself with Department of Labor requirements for H-2B employers, and begin the application process.”

The H-2B program permits U.S. employers to hire foreign workers for temporary seasonal non-agricultural work. Across the United States, there is a limit of only 66,000 foreign workers per year who may receive initial H-2B status during each government fiscal year (October 1 through September 30), with exceptions for recently returning workers.

For these reasons agent companies that facilitate labor certification applications are getting ready to mail them in as soon as possible. Sound advice for employers, some of whom have been shut out in the past due to processing delays by the government. Even though regulations permit H-2B applications to be filed as few as 60 days before workers are needed to begin their jobs, employers and their agents should take advantage of the full 120 days allowed by the government. The job opportunity must be temporary (i.e., the employer's need must be 10 months or less), and at least 35 hours per week in order to be certified.

Ms. Whitley encourages H-2B employers to continue to back the Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses bill (S 988/HR 1843) and to file their labor certification applications early. Many are confident that Congress will pass this bill or a stopgap measure to extend the current Returning Worker Exemption before September 30—the date on which it will expire. For additional information, click on a link below:
www.savesmallbusiness.org
www.landscapemanagement.net/landscape
www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/h-2b.cfm