Foreign Labor Contractors

Registration Application

Beginning January 1, 2019, the regulations implementing SB 477 require foreign labor contractors to register with the Labor Commissioner’s Office. Foreign labor contractors recruit workers residing outside the United States for employment opportunities in California. Only foreign labor contractors and employers who use the federal H-2B visa program for temporary, non-agricultural labor must register with the Labor Commissioner’s Office.

Steps to register:
  • Gather the required documents
  • Fees
    • There is an initial application fee of $95 and a renewal fee of $95 every two years. Pay fee:
      • Online payment available soon, or
      • By mailing a cashier’s check or money order made payable to the “Labor Commissioner’s Office”
  • Complete the application (DLSE 701) and submit it with the required documents by:
    • Mail to “Labor Commissioner, Licensing & Registration Unit-FnLC, 1515 Clay Street, Suite 401, Oakland, CA 94612”, or
    • E-mail to foreignlaborcon@dir.ca.gov

Who must register?

Any person or entity acting as a foreign labor contractor by performing foreign labor contracting activity involving H-2B workers must register with the Labor Commissioner. This program applies to foreign labor contractors who recruit or solicit for compensation an H-2B worker who resides outside of the United States in furtherance of that worker’s employment in California. Registration is not required if the person who recruits the H-2B worker is the actual employer who will employ the worker, or an employee of the employer, where the recruitment activities are performed solely to find workers for the employer’s own use.

Disclosures required by this program

Foreign Labor Contractors must provide disclosures to workers and a copy to the Labor Commissioner: At the time of recruitment, a contractor shall provide disclosures to each worker in writing on form DLSE 703. The contractor must attach to the disclosure form a copy of an employer signed work contract, the Department of Industrial Relations flyer, All Workers in California Have Rights, and a list of Labor Commissioner District Offices. The disclosure information must be provided in English and in the primary language of the worker who is being recruited. No additional requirements may be added or any other changes made to the work contract unless the worker is given 48 hours to review and consider the additional requirements or changes, and gives specific consent, voluntarily and without threat of penalty.

Within seven (7) days of disclosure to the worker, the labor contractor shall transmit to the Labor Commissioner the full disclosure form executed by the contractor along with a separate list of workers who received the same work contract. A separate disclosure is required for different work contracts.

Employers must provide disclosures to the Labor Commissioner: Any person who “knows or should have known” that he, she, or it is using the service of a foreign labor contractor to recruit H-2B workers for employment in California is required to disclose information to the Labor Commissioner, using form DLSE 704. This includes employers who employ or otherwise compensate the H-2B worker but who did not directly, or through an authorized employee, solicit or recruit the foreign worker.

The employer disclosure is valid for one year. If any of the information disclosed changes following the submission of an initial disclosure, the employing person shall complete, sign and submit an amended disclosure form DLSE 704 A within fifteen (15) days of the change.
Disclosure forms can be e-mailed to the Labor Commissioner at foreignlaborcon@dir.ca.gov or mailed to: Labor Commissioner, Licensing & Registration Unit-FnLC, 1515 Clay Street, Suite 401, Oakland, CA 94612.

Resources

Contact Us

For general questions, call or email: 510-285-3399
foreignlaborcon@dir.ca.gov

December 2018