July 19, 2022
AILA’s DOL Liaison Committee has been communicating with the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) regarding the impact of technical difficulties encountered with various State Workforce Agency (SWA) websites on the PERM 30-day Job Order requirement.
On June 26, 2022, approximately 40 SWAs were impacted by a cyberattack on the vendor providing various technical services to these SWAs, including the SWAs’ Job Order websites. Most of these SWAs have already resumed regular services.
OFLC responded to the AILA DOL Liaison Committee that the regulatory requirement (20 CFR §656.17(e)(1)(i)(A) and 20 CFR §656.17(e)(2)(i)) is for the Job Order to be placed for 30 days within 30 and 180 days prior to the filing of ETA Form 9089. The start and end dates listed on the ETA Form 9089 serve as documentation of the posting. OFLC recognizes that some SWA Job Order systems have not been functioning, but employers who have posted their Job Orders with those SWAs have made a good faith effort to comply with the posting requirement. OFLC further clarified that, so long as employers properly posted their Job Orders with the SWAs, despite the fact that the SWAs may have subsequently had technical issues during the 30-day period, employers have met the regulatory requirement in good faith and do not have to extend the time to cover any period that the SWA may have had technical issues with its Job Order system.
Please note that, should an employer choose to extend the Job Order posting period, the dates of the posting must still comply with the regulatory requirements, including that the posting end date must not be within 30 days of filing ETA Form 9089.
