H-2B Travel and Visa Costs Are the Responsibility of Employers in Some Cases

With new enforcement authority, the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2009-2 on August 21, 2009 concluding that in the context of the H-2B temporary non-immigrant visa program, all travel and visa costs are incurred for the primary benefit of the employer. Therefore, the employer must reimburse those costs in the first workweek to the extent that they reduce the employee's wages below the minimum wage.

The Department of Homeland Security delegated to Wage and Hour enforcement authority to ensure that H-2B workers are employed in compliance with the H-2B labor certification requirements. Wage and Hour issued regulations implementing this authority, 29 C.F.R. Part 655, which became effective on January 18,2009.