What
do you do when
the guests arrive
and there are
no bellhops to
greet them and
take their luggage,
no one to meet
them and seat
them in the dining
room, no one to
serve their dinner,
and no one to
make up their
room in the morning?
Your vacation
could quickly
turn into a nightmare.
This was the very
real possibility
that faced our
client, the company
that runs a major
resort every summer.
D corporation
maintains a year
round staff of
10-15, but hires
several hundred
summer workers
each year, including
125-150 foreign
nationals. The
company likes
to hire US workers
but just can't
find enough people
willing to work
so far out of
the way. The foreign
nationals, coming
from 10 different
countries, enter
the US on H-2B
visas and fill
positions as cooks,
buffet attendants,
bellhops, hosts
and hostesses,
and house keepers.
VisaPro started
the H-2B
process in
mid-December as
usual for a start
date on April
15. We worked
closely with the
State Workforce
Agency (SWA) to
get the prevailing
wages, hammer
out the language
for the ads and
postings, and
begin the recruitment
process. We completed
the recruitment,
prepared our reports
and submitted
the packages to
the SWA. We expected
the labor certification
applications to
be forwarded to
the Regional Certifying
Officer shortly.
Everything was
on target and
the employer started
making plans for
opening.
After a few days
we noticed that
all communication
from the SWA ceased
and nothing seemed
to be happening
with our applications.
Our attempts to
find out the status
received silence,
and we could get
no reason for
the delay. We
were finally told
that the State
Labor Commissioner
was refusing to
forward the labor
certification
applications because
he felt that the
employer did not
need foreign workers
and he was going
to find us all
the US workers
we needed.
At this point
we knew we had
entered uncharted
territory. We,
and nobody we
knew, had ever
had a SWA refuse
to forward the
labor certification
to the DOL Regional
Office. And even
worse, in the
3+ weeks they
held our applications,
they only referred
us 3 workers,
not the 125 we
needed, and which
they promised
us. When it became
obvious that we
would not be able
to get anywhere
with the SWA VisaPro
went directly
to the Regional
Certifying Officer
for assistance.
At that time there
were no procedures
in place for dealing
with the situation
because the DOL
Regional Office
also had never
had this problem.
This
got so complicated
that we had to
involve State
legislators' offices,
State Governor's
office, and US
Congressperson's
office. At the
DOL, the matter
was escalated
all the way to
Federal DOL headquarters
in Washington,
DC. After all
these efforts,
Federal DOL helped
us forward copies
of our applications
directly to the
Certifying Officer
for certification.
This eventually
led to DOL developing
a procedure that
could be utilized
in future.
VisaPro
finally succeeded
in getting all
the labor certifications
approved, received
quick approval
from USCIS, and
almost all of
the 100+ workers
received their
H-2B visas at
the US consulates
overseas.
The resort opened
on time, albeit
a little short-handed
for the first
few weeks, and
had a very successful
summer. On our
side we met and
overcame challenges
that you only
see once in a
lifetime. We learned
a lot, did what
was necessary
for our client,
and were ultimately
successful in
getting the workers
they needed.
Our experienced
attorneys are
able to review
and analyze complex
scenarios and
formulate strategies
for hiring foreign
workers on H-2B
visas.
If you are running
a hotel, restaurant,
park, entertainment
center, resort,
grocery store
or any other facility
that needs foreign
workers for seasonal,
one-time, or peak
load situations
we encourage you
to Contact
VisaPro to
review your situation
and discuss your
options. |
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