[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 126 (Thursday, July 1, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38145-38146]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-16011]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Announcing the New National Electronic Job Registry for Use in 
the H-2A Temporary Agricultural Labor Certification Program

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Department of Labor.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is announcing 
that the National Electronic Job Registry (job registry) in which H-2A 
job orders will be posted and available to the public will be 
operational on July 8, 2010.

DATES: This Notice is effective on July 8, 2010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical issues stemming from the 
Department's implementation of the job registry, please contact the 
iCERT System Team, Office of Foreign Labor

[[Page 38146]]

Certification (OFLC), at [email protected]. For program issues 
related to H-2A job orders, please e-mail the OFLC Chicago National 
Processing Center's (CNPC) Help Desk Unit at [email protected] or call (312) 886-8000 (this is not a 
toll-free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On February 12, 2010, the Department of Labor (Department) 
published in the Federal Register a Final Rule governing the Temporary 
Agricultural Employment of H-2A Aliens in the United States (the 2010 
Final Rule). The 2010 Final Rule amended the regulations governing the 
labor certification process for the temporary agricultural employment 
of H-2A aliens in the United States, codified at 20 CFR part 655, 
subpart B, and the enforcement of employer obligations under the H-2A 
program, codified at 29 CFR part 501. The 2010 Final Rule became 
effective on March 15, 2010.
    The regulations promulgated by the 2010 Final Rule include a 
requirement that all job orders filed in connection with H-2A 
applications be posted by the Certifying Officer on a national, 
publicly accessible electronic job registry until the end of 50 percent 
of the contract period. As discussed in the preamble to the 2010 Final 
Rule, requiring the posting of job orders in a national job registry 
will improve the transparency of agricultural jobs available to U.S. 
workers and provide an unprecedented level of public access to one of 
the most frequently requested types of records maintained by the 
Department.

II. Information on Activation of the National Job Registry

    In the 2010 Final Rule, the Department stated it would inform the 
public through a notice in the Federal Register when the job registry 
becomes operational. The Department is hereby announcing that the job 
registry will be operational on July 8, 2010. Public access to the job 
registry will be available through the OFLC iCERT Visa Portal System at 
http://icert.doleta.gov.
    On and after July 8, 2010, the job registry will be available for 
members of the public to search and retrieve H-2A job orders filed in 
connection with an Application for Temporary Employment Certification, 
ETA Form 9142, and accepted by the Department for recruitment of 
domestic workers under the 2010 Final Rule. This new Web-based tool 
will provide an unprecedented level of public access to H-2A job orders 
and will allow the Department to fulfill its regulatory obligations 
under the H-2A program and maintain its commitment to the principles of 
Open Government.
    All information placed on the job registry will be easily 
accessible through the Internet in an electronic format permitting the 
highest possible level of granularity and will contain public data 
collected from the primary source, i.e., the employer/applicant. The 
Department will not disclose on the job registry information or data 
subject to privacy, security, or privilege limitations.
    The Department will place each job order on the registry promptly 
after accepting the employer's application. Where the Department 
accepts a modification to the originally accepted job order (e.g., a 
change in the start date), the Department will promptly post the 
modified job order on the registry in place of the original job order, 
noting that the job order has been modified.
    Upon acceptance and placement on the job registry, each job order 
will be immediately available to the public through a single entry 
point--the iCERT Visa Portal System. The public will not be required to 
register on the iCERT system to access the job registry. The job 
registry will provide an interactive state map from the main iCERT Visa 
Portal homepage allowing the public to quickly search for any active 
job order(s) posted on the registry within the last 30 calendar days. 
Job orders older than 30 days will be accessible to the public through 
registry search engines. The job order information will be searchable 
along a series of common data points such as case number, employer 
name, area of intended employment, work contract period, job title, and 
primary crop or agricultural activity. All search results will be 
displayed in a table format with sortable column headers. The public 
will be able to view a summary of the job order as well as download a 
copy of the entire job order and all attachments in Adobe PDF format.

III. Help Desk

    OFLC has implemented a dedicated Help Desk Unit at the CNPC to 
serve as a resource to the public on program issues related to job 
orders filed in connection with an Application for Temporary Employment 
Certification, ETA Form 9142, under the H-2A program. Please submit 
questions related to job order(s) placed on the H-2A job registry by e-
mail to [email protected]. This H-2A job registry Help 
Desk e-mail box will be monitored by CNPC staff during normal business 
hours, i.e., from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Central Time, Monday through 
Friday. E-mail inquiries will be handled as expeditiously as possible. 
Members of the public may also contact the job registry Help Desk by 
calling (312) 886-8000 (this is not a toll-free number).
    Please direct requests for technical assistance with the H-2A job 
registry to the iCERT System Team, OFLC, at [email protected], and 
include ``Job Registry--Technical Assistance'' in the subject line of 
the e-mail.

    Signed in Washington, DC, this 9th day of June 2010.
Jane Oates,
Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training Administration.
[FR Doc. 2010-16011 Filed 6-30-10; 8:45 am]
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