The interim final rule by the Department of Labor increasing H-1B and labor certification wages which went into effect on October 8, 2020 AND the Interim Final Rule significantly changing the standards for H-1B “specialty occupation” which was to take effect on December 7, 2020 have been set aside by the U.S District Court, Northern District of California, in the matter of Chamber of Commerce v. DHS. This could not be more welcome news!
DOL will now have to revert its wage database back to reflect the wages prior to the implementation of the wage hike rule. At this time, it is not known if DOL/DHS will appeal the court’s decision. The judgment applies universally and not just to the parties to the litigation.
