Eight Ways to Check Your PERM Recruitment Process

What Recent PERM Enforcement Means for Employers With Green Card Programs 

Federal agencies have stepped up enforcement around permanent labor certification, known as PERM. Recent reports indicate that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has suspended PERM filings for a small number of named employers while investigations continue. To date, DOL has not publicly detailed the full scope of those actions or how long they may remain in effect.  

As Peter Bade, Managing Attorney at Corporate Immigration Partners, explains, the reported suspension is not a program-wide shutdown.  

Employers that have not received notice from DOL or another agency can generally keep managing PERM cases under the existing rules. Still, the activity points to a clear theme: this Administration is looking closely at how employers run their PERM program, and conduct the labor market test. Now is a good time to check that your company’s PERM program remains compliant.

What the Suspensions Do and Do Not Mean 

Based on the publicly available information, the reported suspensions apply to specific employers and do not prevent other organizations from initiating recruitment, requesting prevailing wage determinations or filing PERM applications. 

Employers or organizations that receive an audit notice, supervised recruitment directive, subpoena or other government request may wish to evaluate the request based on their specific circumstances and consult appropriate immigration counsel as needed.  

Without a notice from DOL or another government agency, no public announcement to date changes the PERM filing process for employers not named in the reported action.  

Why PERM Recruitment Is Under the Microscope 

Recent government actions have focused on whether U.S. workers are receiving a genuine opportunity to apply for PERM-sponsored positions. Reported allegations in these matters include: 

• Directing applicants to email addresses that did not accept external messages 
• Requiring paper or mail-in applications when other positions used standard online application processes  
• Excluding PERM applications from a company’s normal application-tracking system 

Some of these matters remain allegations, while others have resulted in settlements. The common theme is that regulators are evaluating the entire recruitment process, not simply whether required advertisements were placed. Even when recruitment steps are completed on time, employers may face scrutiny if the process appears to discourage U.S. applicants or treats them differently from foreign national candidates.  

Eight Ways to Check Your PERM Recruitment Process

 Step 1: Check Consistency

Compare PERM recruitment to ordinary hiring. Look for differences in how people apply, such as a separate email address or a mail-only option. Differences are not automatically a problem, but each one should have a documented reason. 

Step 2: Review Application Channels

Test every application channel. Confirm that the email addresses, career-site links, mailing addresses and phone numbers in your ads work for the full recruitment period. Record when you tested them. 

Step 3: Access Applications Fairly

Give U.S. applicants real consideration. Recruitment is a genuine labor-market test, not a formality. Measure applicants against the job’s actual minimum requirements. 

Step 4: Document Rejections

Document specific rejection reasons. Each reason should be accurate and tied to the applicant’s materials or interview. Avoid broad statements that don’t explain which requirement the person missed. 

Step 5: Preserve Records

Keep complete records. Save ads, posting confirmations, resumes, applicant messages, interview notes, rejection reasons and recruitment reports. Keep them for the required period, and longer if an audit or investigation applies. 

Step 6: Train Stakeholders

Train recruiters and hiring managers. Anyone involved should know that suggesting a role is “already filled” by the sponsored employee can create serious legal and evidentiary risk. 

Step 7: Review Job Posting Language

Review job posting language. Postings generally should not show a preference for visa holders or exclude U.S. workers who are protected under federal law. 

Step 8: Align Teams

Bring teams together. PERM touches both DOL labor certification rules and federal rules against citizenship-status discrimination. Immigration, employment law, HR and recruiting teams should work from the same process. 

If your organization receives a government inquiry, preserving recruitment records and related documentation can help establish a clear record of the recruitment activity conducted for the case.  

What This Means for Sponsored Employees 

For employers that have not been named in the reported actions, there is currently no indication that any employee’s pending PERM applications, H-1B status, I-140 petitions or adjustment of status applications are affected.  

That said, employment-based immigration processes often involve timelines and interconnected filing requirements. Employers may want to continue monitoring case milestones and planning ahead to support their workforce and sponsorship needs.  

Ultimately, case-by-case planning remains important, even without any investigation. 

Looking Ahead  

As scrutiny of PERM recruitment practices continues, employers may find value in periodically reviewing their processes, documentation and recordkeeping procedures to help ensure consistency and compliance. Organizations may also wish to assess how immigration, HR, recruiting and legal teams coordinate throughout the PERM process and identify opportunities to strengthen internal processes.