LCA Posting Requirements: Notice Content, Locations, and Penalties

Before filing a Labor Condition Application for an H-1B, H-1B1, or E-3 worker, an employer has to tell its current workforce about the hire. The LCA posting requirements set out exactly what that notice must say, where it has to appear, how long it must stay up, and what records prove it was done. Miss any piece and the Department of Labor can impose fines and bar the company from sponsoring foreign workers for years.¹

What the Notice Must Say

The posted notice is a separate document from the LCA form. It has to carry specific details drawn from the application:¹

The number of H-1B, H-1B1, or E-3 workers sought.
The occupational classification.
The wage offered, which must meet or exceed the prevailing wage for the area.
The period of employment (start and end dates).
Every physical work location.
A statement that the LCA is available for public examination at the employer’s principal U.S. place of business or at the worksite.
A statement directing employees to the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor if they suspect violations.²

Employers classified as H-1B-dependent or as willful violators have to add a description of their nondisplacement and recruitment obligations plus a second complaint statement pointing employees to the Department of Justice’s Office of Special Counsel.³

Where and How To Post

The method depends on whether the position is covered by a collective bargaining agreement.

Unionized Positions

If a bargaining representative exists for the occupational classification, the employer delivers the notice directly to that representative. Nothing is posted for individual workers, but the same required content applies.¹

Non-Union Positions

Without a bargaining representative, the employer notifies employees directly through one of two methods.²

A physical posting must appear in at least two conspicuous locations at each place of employment listed on the LCA. Break rooms, bulletin boards, and building entrances qualify, so long as workers pass through and can read the notice without obstruction.¹

Electronic notice works too. Options include individual email, an internal intranet page, or an electronic bulletin board. Whatever the channel, it must reach every affected worker at the worksite in the same occupational classification, not just the sponsoring employer’s own staff.²

When To Post and For How Long

Notice has to start on or within 30 days before the LCA is filed with the Department of Labor. That window applies to both union delivery and employee postings.¹

The notice must then stay up for 10 days.² The rule says “10 days,” not “10 business days,” so treating it as 10 calendar days is the safer reading. Pulling the notice down early can force the employer to start over and delay the whole petition.

Third-Party Client Sites and Remote Workers

The posting duty follows the sponsoring employer, not the site owner. When an H-1B worker will be placed at a client’s office, the LCA has to cover that location and the notice has to appear there.⁴⁵

A physical posting at the client site has to sit where all affected workers can see it. Placing it in a private area only the sponsoring employer’s staff visits doesn’t count. Electronic notice is allowed, but the workers at the client’s location have to actually know it exists and be able to find the one that applies to their worksite. Posting on an intranet the client’s employees never open falls short. Practical alternatives include asking the client to post a link on its own intranet, emailing the link to affected workers, or maintaining a public webpage with a searchable index of notices by worksite.⁴

A home office counts as a worksite when regular work is performed there, so the posting requirements apply. A physical posting means the notice appearing in two conspicuous locations at the residence for the full 10 days. Direct electronic notice to affected employees is often the more workable option, and the Public Access File should reflect the home work location.

Short-Term Placements Without a New Posting

An employer does not always need a new LCA (and therefore new notice) when briefly assigning an H-1B worker somewhere outside the area on an approved LCA. Short-term placements of up to 30 workdays in a one-year period at an unlisted worksite are allowed without filing again. The cap stretches to 60 workdays if the worker keeps a dedicated workstation at the permanent worksite, spends substantial time there during the year, and lives in that area rather than at the short-term location.⁶

Any day the worker performs any work at the short-term site counts as a workday, even briefly. The one-year period is either the calendar year or the employer’s fiscal year. Wage and expense obligations continue during the placement, but no new LCA posting is required at the temporary site as long as the limits hold.

Proof for the Public Access File

Once the LCA is filed, the employer has to make the application and supporting records available for public examination within one working day, at the principal U.S. place of business or at the worksite. That collection is the Public Access File.⁷

The file has to include a copy of the notice used to satisfy the posting requirement.⁷ Separately, the employer has to document that the notice was properly delivered. For union positions, that means keeping the dated notice and the bargaining representative’s name and address. For non-union positions, the employer records the specific dates the notice was posted, the locations it appeared, and a copy of the posted notice itself.¹

Anyone can request the Public Access File, not just current employees, and the employer has one working day to produce it.

Penalties for Getting Posting Wrong

The Wage and Hour Division enforces LCA requirements. Penalties fall on three tiers:⁸

Basic violations: up to $2,364 per violation, covering substantial failures related to notification, LCA specificity, misrepresentation of material facts, and public access failures that hinder detection.
Willful violations: up to $9,624 per violation, for deliberate failures involving wages, working conditions, notification, displacement, misrepresentation, or retaliation.
Willful violations with displacement: up to $67,367 per violation when a U.S. worker at the company is displaced within 90 days before or after the H-1B petition, combined with a willful LCA violation.

The bigger consequence for many employers is debarment from filing H-1B petitions or employment-based permanent residence petitions. Basic violations carry at least a one-year bar. Willful violations carry at least two years. Willful violations involving displacement carry a minimum three years.⁸

1
eCFR. 20 CFR 655.734 – What is the fourth LCA requirement, regarding notice?
2
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 62M: What are an H-1B employer’s notification requirements
3
eCFR. 20 CFR 655.734 – What is the fourth LCA requirement, regarding notice?
4
U.S. Department of Labor. Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2019-3
5
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 62J: What does place of employment mean?
6
eCFR. 20 CFR 655.735 – What are the special provisions for short-term placements?
7
eCFR. 20 CFR 655.760 – What records are to be made available to the public, and what records are to be retained?
8
eCFR. 20 CFR 655.810 – What remedies may be ordered if violations are found?