Hi @Anil.Gupta!
I work in a tech company in SF. Our offices still remain closed due to COVID-19 with no immediate plans of reopening. The law firm handling my PERM case has said they cannot go ahead with the recruitment steps as they are unable to post the notice of filing in the office premises for 10 business days - they will continue the process only when the office reopens. Can you suggest workarounds for this scenario (if any)? I have less than 2 years on my H1B and this situation has me worried. Thank you!
There is no workaround that i know of.
I am in a similar situation and thought to share what my attorneys are doing.
I believe it is the notice of filing you are making reference to, if yes, my attorneys decided to post the notice using the Company’s intranet.
The reason being that the purpose of the notice of filing is to notify the Company’s workforce of the intention to file a PERM application.
Therefore, if offices are closed due to Covid, then the only way to alert the workforce is through the intranet.
Although the attorneys said that there are additional work and documentation to be done using this method but I didn’t go into details to ask them since they will be taking care of everything.
1 Like
Thank you @Anil.Gupta and @Amy_Nwa!
@Amy_Nwa do you mind sharing any resource or lawyer response about this process? This sounds promising and I would like to show my counsel some articles referencing this option!
@ConcernedGC. See attached snapshot of the section of DOL regulation(20 CFR §655.734) that goes over this. As you can see per my yellow highlights within the snapshot, the notice can be posted in one of two ways ; either hard copy notice or electronic notice using the Company’s intranet.
Before the existence of COVID, all attorneys use the first method; that is, the physical posting and most attorneys aren’t aware an electronic posting method is also permitted under DOL regulation. With the current pandemic, the second method should suffice for you.
Below is the link to the specific regulation mentioned above, the site has most of the DOL regulations which is very helpful.
I hope this helps!
You can only post notice for H1b LCA filing on intranet. You are referring to h1b LCA posting in above article.
PERM LC posting can only be done physically and employees should be able to see this posted notice.
Otherwise you could risk subjecting to audit, because PERM form should include the date for posting.
I am stuck in the exact same situation. Has anyone had some progress in figuring out what can be done. With tech companies talking about wfh till mid 2021, I would be left with almost a year time to process my perm and file i140
Wanted to check to see in if there is an update on this issue.
Thanks
My perm process in recruitment stage has been halted since June.
The offices have been closed for over 5 months now, and the lawyer is saying the notice of filing step cannot be completed with offices closed.
I don’t foresee my office opening till Q1 2020. I have 2 years left on my h1b (27 months maxout) and am worried about potential delays due to audits. Is there a workaround to this problem.
Has there been any recent clarifications from DOL regarding relaxation of physical notice of opening postings in office locations. Any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.