07/29/10
DOL Prohibits Attorneys and Agents from Screening Resumes and Interviewing Job Applicants
Employers should rely upon their attorneys to guide them in all aspects of immigration and employment law. This includes regulations relating to the PERM Labor Certification process, as well as laws governing hiring practices and procedures, anti-discrimination and employment law.Recently, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that only employers, not their attorneys or agents, may review applicants' resumes and conduct interviews in connection with job applications submitted in response to PERM Labor Certification pre-filing recruitment. One exception is in the situation where an attorney is the representative of the employer who routinely performs this function.
The scope of this prohibition is currently being litigated in the U.S. District Court of Washington D.C. by the law firm of Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy LLP. Fragomen filed its law suit in response to DOL's special audits of all labor certifications filed by Fragomen.
Until the Fragomen lawsuit is concluded, attorneys and agents must be careful not to be involved in any aspect of resume screening nor participate in the interview of job applicants, unless it is part of their routine function in all cases.