The employer needs to obtain a Labor Condition Authorization (LCA) from the U.S. Department of Labor for an E-3 recipient, as is also the case for an H-1b.
The application outlines the position’s title, salary, location, period of employment, and the determination method of the prevailing wage.
Most importantly, the employer is required by the LCA to affirm that:
- The E-3 employee is offered a higher wage than what the employer pays for similar positions or for positions that have the same duties in responsibilities for the most part;
- Employees working under similar conditions will not be adversely affected;
- The position is not affected by a lock-out or strike taking place at the proposed workplace for this employee; and
- Other employees, as well as their union, where applicable, have also been provided with a copy of the LCA.
The determination of the prevailing wage by the employer may be backed various alternative methods, as the circumstances dictate, including federal labor laws, a union contract (not usually applicable to most specialties), a prevailing wage determination by a State Employment Services Administration (SESA), an independently-published private wage survey, or an interval survey carried out by the employer.
Public Access File Responsibilities for the E-3 Visa
During and after an E-3 employee’s term, the employer must keep certain documents within a public inspection file, which must accessible on demand to individuals asserting a labor complaint relating to the E-3 visa, and also to certain other interested parties.
This file must contain:
- An LCA copy;
- A documentation of the payable wage rate of the E-3 employee;
- A documentation of the method the employer used to determine the payable wage rate of the E-3 employee;
- A documentation of the prevailing wage’s determination;
- A copy of the E-3 petition’s notice as given to employees and/or the union;
- A summary of the benefits that US workers enjoy in the same occupation category as the E-3; and
- If the employer has been involved in an acquisition, merger, or another corporate restructuring process, a document showing that the employer agreed to assume the commitments and obligations of the prior employer regarding the E-3 petition.