December 4, 2020. Late last night the Office of Foreign Labor Certifications (OFLC) announced its plan and timeframe to restore the OES wages that were in place on October 7, 2020. Key points are listed below.
Implementation Timeframe for Technical Changes to FLC Online Data Center
Beginning at approximately 12:00PM (Noon) Eastern Time on December 4, 2020, the OES data source will be updated at https://www.flcdatacenter.com/ to reflect the correct prevailing wage data for each SOC and area of intended employment through June 30, 2021.
Implementation Timeframe for Filing LCAs
Beginning around 8:30AM Eastern Time on December 9, 2020, employers and their authorized attorneys or agents will be able to submit new LCAs, Form ETA-9035/9035E, using the OES survey data that was in effect on October 7, 2020. LCAs cannot be filed between now and then if the OES survey data is to be used as the prevailing wage source.
Implementation Timeframe for Processing Prevailing Wage Determinations
OFLC’s National Prevailing Wage Center (NPWC) has temporarily paused processing of Forms ETA-9141s, which are primarily used for PERM applications. However, employers and their authorized attorneys or agents may continue to file new requests for a prevailing wage determination at any time.
Beginning around 8:30AM Eastern Time on December 15, 2020, OFLC’s NPWC will resume processing all pending and new Form ETA-9141s for use in filing LCA and PERM applications, and will use the OES survey data that was in effect on October 7, 2020 for prevailing wage determinations where the OES survey data is the prevailing wage source.
