DOL and DOJ Settle with Facebook Regarding Alleged Discrimination and Use of PERM | Joseph & Hall P.C.

The Division of Labor and Division of Justice have individually introduced settlement agreements with Fb concerning alleged discrimination towards U.S. employees in its use of the “PERM” program—the regulatorily mandated course of for an employer to sponsor a employee for everlasting residency.  Within the settlement, Fb admits no wrongdoing, and in some ways, the settlement has enterprise immigration legal professionals scratching their heads.

The PERM course of is one that’s, by design, unusual.  It’s a check of the U.S. labor market to find out that no keen, in a position, and certified U.S. employees can be found for a given place, and by exhibiting this, permits for an employer to as an alternative sponsor a non-U.S. employee for that place.  The method is regulatorily heavy, with very exacting requirements.  On the similar time, although, the check of the labor market doesn’t appear to match how the world works in 2021.  As an example, in exhibiting that no certified U.S. candidates can be found for a non “skilled” place, an employer should usually put up two Sunday newspaper ads within the newspaper of widest circulation within the space, put up inner notices that it’s present process this course of, and put up a job order with the State Workforce Company.  That’s it.  If no person applies, then, by regulation, an employer has proven that there aren’t any in a position, keen, and certified U.S. employees for a place, nevermind {that a} posting on a web-based job board might usher in dozens of candidates.  In the long run, one of the best ways to consider the method is just not that it’s a recruitment instrument, however somewhat a regulatory check of the labor market to see if any minimally certified people can be found for a place.

That is the core of what causes confusion on this settlement.  Fb appears to have met the regulatory necessities for the place (there may be some argument that some components weren’t adopted accurately), however the Division of Justice appears to conflate the PERM course of and its check of the labor market with precise recruitment.  As an example, Fb required candidates within the PERM course of to mail in resumes, whereas their precise recruitment permitted on-line purposes.  On its face, this does appear unusual, but when one was to endure supervised recruitment by the Division of Labor, it could require mail-in resumes.  The Division of Justice additionally factors to the disparate responses to those job postings—non-PERM job postings receiving a whole bunch or hundreds of candidates, with PERM job postings receiving few to none.  That, once more, appears to be anticipated the place one software course of is way extra onerous than one for an an identical place.

The underside line of all of that is enterprise immigration legal professionals will probably be pouring over the main points of this settlement for fairly a while as we adapt our practices to keep away from these outcomes.  On the middle of the PERM course of is the idea that the recruitment marketing campaign will probably be performed in good religion, and so my guess is rising efforts will probably be made to display this good religion within the PERM course of.  On the similar time, a private opinion is that if the federal government doesn’t like the best way the PERM course of works it ought to merely change the laws.