DOL Extends "Hold Harmless" Notification Date
Posted Jan 17, 2007
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The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has advised the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) that they will be extending the date for employers to notify the DOL that they wish to convert a traditional (TR) labor certification to a Reduction in Recruitment (RIR) case. The notification is known as a "hold harmless" request, as it essentially places a hold on the case to allow for the RIR request. The extended date for eMailing a hold harmless request will be January 22, 2007, at midnight (U.S. Eastern Standard Time). This extends the earlier deadline of January 20, 2007.
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The reason for this change is simply that the prior expiration date fell on a Saturday. The deadline is now set for midnight on Monday. As with most things, it is best not to wait until the last minute. There are pros and cons to utilizing the hold-harmless procedure. Once the hold-harmless request is made, the employer must go forward with the RIR request. If the hold-harmless request is transmitted, the RIR request must be filed by April 1, 2007, or the case will be closed. Detailed information on this procedure is provided in our January 5, 2007 MurthyBulletin article, DOL Updates Guidance on Conversion to RIR, available on MurthyDotCom.
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Failure to Meet Deadline Need Not Spell Doom for RIR Filing
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Please note that it may still be possible to submit an RIR request, even if an employer does not submit the hold-harmless request. The RIR request can be submitted as long as the DOL has not issued recruitment instructions or placed a job order. Thus, if the hold-harmless eMail is not sent, the employer could attempt to prepare and submit an RIR request before the DOL begins supervised recruitment. Of course, without the hold-harmless request, the employer has no control over when the DOL will start the supervised recruitment process.