12/28/2009 - New Prevailing Wage System in Place After the New Year
With the start of 2010, the U.S. Department of Labor is instituting a new system of obtaining the Prevailing Wage Determinations necessary for H-1B, H-2 and PERM petitions and applications.
These determinations, previously made at the state level based on the federal OES survey, will now be made at a centralized location in Washington, D.C.
The request process will ultimately be integrated into the Department of Labor's iCert portal, but for at least the first 20 days of the new year request will only be accepted through traditional mail.
It remains to be seen what impact the new system will have upon the speed of prevailing wage determinations - or their accuracy. In many states attorneys previously enjoyed the ability to directly contact prevailing wage analysts to resolve issues by phone, often with a degree of congeniality; those days are likely gone - problems will likely take far longer to resolve under the new system.
Employers filing H-1B, H-2 and PERM cases, employees anxiously awaiting such cases.