December 7, 2009

DOL: Major Change in Prevailing Wage Requests Effective 1/1/2010

The Department of Labor (DOL) has created the National Prevailing Wage and Helpdesk Center (NPWHC) located in Washington, D.C. Effective January 1, 2010 all prevailing wage requests that were previously submitted to the State Workforce Agencies and Chicago NPC must be submitted and processed through the NPWHC in connection with H-1B, H-1B1 (Chile/Singapore), H-1C, H-2B, E-3 (Australia), and permanent labor certifications. For applications in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), the effective start date was November 28, 2009. At the present time the NPWHC does not have electronic capacity to process the prevailing wage form which must be mailed in until further notice. The State Workforce Agencies and Chicago NPC will receive and complete any requests received on or before December 31, 2009.