Reduction in Recruitment
On October 1, 1996, the US Department of Labor ("DOL") issued a directive to all State Employment Security Agencies (SESAs) setting forth what DOL described as "Measures for Increasing Efficiency in the Permanent Labor Certification Process." The directive, in pertinent part, orders all SESAs and Regional DOL Offices to encourage reductions in recruitment (RIR). It further directed that processing of such properly filed cases be expedited. In short, the directive was an attempt by the DOL to bring consistency to the treatment of RIR requests which each Regional DOL office had previously treated differently.
By using this procedure, an employer may rely on recruitment efforts made prior to filing an application for labor certification. This reasoning behind this procedure is that the employer has already made a good faith attempt to recruit U.S. workers for the position and therefore any further efforts would be duplicative.
A request for RIR can save the employer time and money in the recruitment process. In addition, the employer maintains control over the recruitment process. If the employer does locate a willing and qualified U.S. worker during the recruitment process, the employer is spared the time and expenses associated with filing the labor certification application.
The SESA’s are required to consider RIR requests in occupations with little or no availability. An RIR request can be granted for any occupation, except those listed on Schedule B. The DOL will only approve an RIR request where the employer demonstrates that it has adequately tested the labor market with no success. The DOL has stated that RIR is appropriate and may be approved in connection with:
Once the employer makes an RIR request, the SESA will review the application for completeness and will determine the current prevailing wage for the job opportunity. The SESA will also determine availability of qualified U.S. workers registered with their office and will give the employer an opportunity to interview those workers. The SESA may also include a recommendation to the regional DOL, based on its knowledge of the labor market, for or against granting the request for RIR. The SESA may not refuse to send a written request for RIR to the DOL Certifying Officer. However, the local office should advise the employer when, in its opinion, the labor market has not been adequately tested and when the application is likely to be denied by the Certifying Officer.
The Certifying Officer is required to consider the RIR request in a timely manner. If the RIR request is denied or partially reduced, the Certifying Officer will return the application to the SESA with specific instructions for processing and will send a copy of the decision to the employer.
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