This week we are pleased to have a guest post from Jennifer L. Shanley, a member of Robinson+Cole’s Immigration Group. Her preparation of temporary and permanent immigration petitions allow manufacturing, chemical, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology companies, including some Fortune 100 companies, to retain key business people, scientists, researchers, and other professionals.

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), along with several prominent business organizations, filed a lawsuit in federal court to stop the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) regulations governing the H-1B nonimmigrant visa program that would disrupt manufacturers’ ability to hire and retain critical high-skilled talent.

By way of background DHS announced an interim final rule that revises the definition of H-1B specialty occupation to include the requirement of a specific relationship between the required degree field(s) and the duties of the offered position. It also restricts eligibility for the program in several additional ways, including requiring employers to provide contracts, work orders, itineraries or similar evidence to prove employer-employee relationship when sending H-1B workers to third party worksites, ultimately providing the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) with the ultimate discretion on who meets the definition of employer and employee. The other rule issued by the Department of Labor increased the wage floor companies are required to pay employees to historically high rates.
Continue Reading Manufacturers Fighting Disruptive Immigration Reform

One of the issues that manufacturers/distributors are paying more attention to is their document retention policies.  Things get complicated, however, when a corporation has operations outside of the United States.  It is not uncommon, for instance, for a manufacturer/distributor to store information on a computer server that is housed outside of the United States.

Records

If you are looking for news about the manufacturing industry, an excellent resource is the The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)’s website.  NAM reports that it is the largest manufacturing association in the United States, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states.  I would recommend NAM’s “ShopFloor