Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 117.djvu/964

 PUBLIC LAW 108–77—SEPT. 3, 2003

117 STAT. 945

‘‘(viii) It is a failure to meet a condition of paragraph (1)(A) for an employer who has filed an attestation under this subsection to fail to offer to a nonimmigrant under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b1), during the nonimmigrant’s period of authorized employment, benefits and eligibility for benefits (including the opportunity to participate in health, life, disability, and other insurance plans; the opportunity to participate in retirement and savings plans; and cash bonuses and non-cash compensation, such as stock options (whether or not based on performance)) on the same basis, and in accordance with the same criteria, as the employer offers to United States workers. ‘‘(D) If the Secretary of Labor finds, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, that an employer has not paid wages at the wage level specified in the attestation and required under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Labor shall order the employer to provide for payment of such amounts of back pay as may be required to comply with the requirements of paragraph (1), whether or not a penalty under subparagraph (C) has been imposed. ‘‘(E) The Secretary of Labor may, on a case-by-case basis, subject an employer to random investigations for a period of up to 5 years, beginning on the date on which the employer is found by the Secretary of Labor to have committed a willful failure to meet a condition of paragraph (1) or to have made a willful misrepresentation of material fact in an attestation. The authority of the Secretary of Labor under this subparagraph shall not be construed to be subject to, or limited by, the requirements of subparagraph (A). ‘‘(F) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as superseding or preempting any other enforcement-related authority under this Act (such as the authorities under section 274B), or any other Act. ‘‘(4) For purposes of this subsection: ‘‘(A) The term ‘area of employment’ means the area within normal commuting distance of the worksite or physical location where the work of the nonimmigrant under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b1) is or will be performed. If such worksite or location is within a Metropolitan Statistical Area, any place within such area is deemed to be within the area of employment. ‘‘(B) In the case of an attestation with respect to one or more nonimmigrants under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b1) by an employer, the employer is considered to ‘displace’ a United States worker from a job if the employer lays off the worker from a job that is essentially the equivalent of the job for which the nonimmigrant or nonimmigrants is or are sought. A job shall not be considered to be essentially equivalent of another job unless it involves essentially the same responsibilities, was held by a United States worker with substantially equivalent qualifications and experience, and is located in the same area of employment as the other job. ‘‘(C)(i) The term ‘lays off’, with respect to a worker— ‘‘(I) means to cause the worker’s loss of employment, other than through a discharge for inadequate performance, violation of workplace rules, cause, voluntary departure, voluntary retirement, or the expiration of a grant or contract; but

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