This week the Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) upheld the Dept. of Labor’s (DOL) decision to deny DDM Hauler Inc.’s request for seasonal H-2B workers. The DOL claims that the employer did not show proof that they had tried to hire American workers first by placing ads in the local newspapers as required.

On their initial application DDM Hauler asked for 17 H-2B construction workers to be employed from Oct. 1, 2017 to July 1, 2018. They were notified about the deficiencies in their application by DOL on July 21. The employer responded to a few of the issues and then asked to increase the number of H-2B workers to 18.

The DOL told the employer that in order to be eligible for H-2B visa workers you must first contact qualified employees who have been previously laid-off and advertise in local newspapers for American workers.

DDM Hauler missed its deadline of Aug. 31 to respond to the inquires and were notified on Sept. 14 that they had been denied. DDM responded to the denial notification that there were no former workers to contact and claimed that they had placed newspaper ads.

DDM Hauler claimed they had placed ads in the Odessa American newspaper on Aug. 6 and 7 but did not provide any copies of the ads to DOL. In their revised application DDM Haulers crossed out the August dates and instead wrote in Oct. 2, 2017 and Sept. 28, 2017. These dates had not happened yet at the time they submitted their application.

The DOL maintained its decision to deny the employer’s request for H-2B workers.

Read more on this story at law360.com.