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The new program makes the following changes to the prevailing wage
requirement for permanent labor certification process:
1)
The employer must pay 100% of the prevailing wage.
The DOL will no longer permit employers to pay less than 100% of
the prevailing wage rate.
2)
There will be four levels for determining prevailing wages (up from
the current two levels).
However when must the employer pay the prevailing wage?
This is no settle decision on this issue.According to the regulation, the employer is not required to offer the prevailing wage until ¡°the time the alien begins work or from the time the alien is admitted to take up the certified employment¡± (20 CFR ¡ì656.10(c)(1)). The question is how to interpret "begins work" and "take uo the certified employment". Different interpretations exist.
My interpretation is, if the job potition on the labor certification is the same as the alien employee's current job title, the employer must pay the official prevailing wage. If the position on the labor certification application is different from the alien employee's current job title, the employer must pay the official prevailing wage when USCIS approves the I-485 application.
But to be safe, the employer should pay the official prevailing wage to the alien employee even when the employer starts the labor certification process for the alien employee.
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