What employers should know about key developments this week:

• DOL’s Visa Crackdown: The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has frozen all new permanent labor certification (PERM) applications from several major IT and tech companies as part of a joint investigation with the White House Fraud Task Force examining allegations of wage suppression, fake recruitment processes, and systemic misuse of H-1B visas and the PERM process.
• State Department Halts Immigrant Visas: The U.S. Department of State has paused all immigrant visa applications from outside the United States and is preparing to revoke up to 200,000 business and tourism visas held by individuals who have sought asylum.
• H-2A Farmworker Wage Rates in Limbo: A federal court ruled that the DOL’s Adverse Effect Wage Rate methodology for H-2A farmworkers is unlawful, requiring the agency to recalculate rates and potentially exposing employers to back pay liability for the difference.

Transcript

[00:00:03] George Whipple: Welcome to Employment Law This Week. I’m George Whipple. The current administration is stepping up enforcement on work-related visas. The Department of Labor has frozen all new PERM applications from several major IT and tech companies. PERM is a process by which a company proves that no qualified, willing, able, and available U.S. workers exist for a job.

[00:00:33] George Whipple: It’s the mandatory first step for most employment-based green card applications. This freeze is the most aggressive...

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