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LABOR CERTIFICATION PROGRAM TO UNDERGO TRANSFORMATION 
The Department of Labor is moving forward on the development of regulations to put the PERM labor certification program into effect.  Later this month, there will be a meeting between those drawing up the regulations and DOL regional certifying officers.  At the meeting, comments on the proposed PERM regulations will be sought from the certifying officers.  Shortly after this meeting, regulations should be published in the Federal Register seeking public comments. 
Also, regulations that will allow traditional labor certifications to be converted into Reduction in Recruitment cases are currently being review by the Office of Management and Budget.  The regulations will be published for notice and comment, and will likely not become effective until next fall. 
While few concrete details of the PERM program are available, it is believed it will be based largely on a system of employer attestations about specific recruitment efforts.  Electronic filing will be allowed, and it is hoped that the application will be approved within 30 days.  The DOL will select cases for further review, some at random and some based on specific criteria to audit for compliance with the attestation requirements.  It is expected that some cases will have to be filed through the traditional labor certification process.  Also, the DOL has stated that there will be a 00 fee for filing. 
The Department of Labor has finally submitted to Congress its plan to reduce backlogs of labor certification cases at both State Employment Security Agencies and Department of Labor regional offices.  The plan calls for the reduction of the backlog by the end of fiscal year 2001, September 30, 2000.  Part of the comments indicated that the Department would not be closely scrutinizing pending cases in order to process them quickly.