DOL OFLC, For a summary of the enhancements, please click here

EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION, USDOL OFLC E-Government Initiative: iCERT Prevailing Wage Module Enhancements February 2012 Synopsis: The Employment and Training Administration’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) is releasing several major enhancements to its web-based iCERT Visa Portal System (http://icert.doleta.gov) to enhance customer service and improve the processing of employer requests for prevailing wage determinations. Since January 2010, the iCERT System’s Prevailing Wage Module has provided customers with online application intake, case management and tracking, electronic mail notifications, and other case determination services. This module supports the receipt and processing of more than 105,000 electronic prevailing wage determinations annually through the OFLC National Prevailing Wage Center (NPWC) -- achieving significant administrative cost savings and delivering greater consistency and accuracy in issuing wage determination decisions to customers. Major Enhancement Features: Improved Data Quality Checks: Strengthens data quality by providing additional real- time form validation (e-checks) to prevent (rather than just warn) customers of mandatory fields on the ETA Form 9141, Application for Prevailing Wage Determination that, when not completed, may result in a delay in processing the application.

Customers will receive immediate notifications during the data entry and again, in summary form, at the final pre-submission stage of the process; Elimination of Separate Employer Wage Survey Submissions: Significantly reduces administrative time and costs by allowing customers to upload wage surveys (e.g., employer provided survey, CBA, SCA) or other supporting documentation to the NPWC as part of the ETA Form 9141 submission process in either Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, or text file formats for more efficient storage and retrieval by the NPWC in processing the application; Electronic Requests for NPWC Center Director Review: Streamlines the process to request review of a NPWC prevailing wage determination or redetermination by providing customers with the ability to initiate requests through their iCERT portal accounts. Consistent with regulatory requirements, customers will be able to enter a request for review online, write a narrative explanation, and upload supporting documentation in either Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, or text file formats for more efficient storage and retrieval by the NPWC Center Director; and Additional Customer E-mail Notifications: Improves transparency of NPWC decision making by providing customers with quick access to check the status of any pending requests for Center Director Review within their iCERT portal accounts, and delivering courtesy e-mail notifications as soon as a decision is reached to affirm or overturn the prevailing wage determination or redetermination. Release Date: February 6, 2012 (a system outage between 8 a.m. - 1 p.m. EST is required) 1