Mr. Wildes

Hospitality Law

The Summer Work Travel Program: A Means to Fill Next Summer's Staffing Requirements

By Michael Wildes, Partner , Wildes & Weinberg

With this summer’s tourist season come and gone, it is time for all hoteliers to review the efficiency of their operations and determine if their staffing needs were properly met to ensure that the tourists of today will be satisfied customers of tomorrow.

If this summer’s staff did not quite meet the grade, there is no reason to fret. Across the oceans, countless bright, motivated students are looking for an opportunity to spend their summer in the United States. At the same time, scores of proprietors are looking for temporary staff to assist with the daily operations throughout the busy vacation season. Fortunately for both parties, there is a program offered by the U.S. Department of State designed for the express purpose of bringing these two groups together, which may be the answer to human resource personnel summer hiring worries: The Summer Work Travel Program.

There are many advantages to hiring student workers under this plan. First, the students have already shown impressive initiative and the desire to work in the United States by simply enrolling in the program which will allow them to pursue their dream of traveling abroad! Second, they are content—and indeed required—to return home at the end of the busy season. Third, they have demonstrated the requisite English language skills which are needed in order to qualify. And most important, their visas and related immigration processes are predominately handled by an intermediary known as the sponsor agency, at little or no expense to the hotel hiring them.

How does this all work?

The U.S. Department of State endows the sponsor agency with the right to issue to eligible students, a Form DS 2019, Certificate of Eligibility for an Exchange Visitor (J-1 status). J-1 visa status is granted on a temporary, fixed-term basis, and provides a firsthand opportunity for young people abroad to have a summer experience in the United States. Beyond Summer Work Travel students, other common J-1 visa holders include au pairs, camp counselors, visiting scholars at American universities, interns, and trainees. Unlike foreign nationals arriving on visitors’ visas, many J-1 holders are authorized to work in the United States, although their work authorization is only valid until the expiration of their temporary visa status. Summer Work Travel candidates may not seek to remain in their program for longer than four months.

A foreign national student interested in the Summer Work Travel program may find work in one of two ways: the student may look for a summer job on his/her own and find a sponsor agency willing to process the visa, or he may register with a sponsor agency directly and allow the sponsor to match him/her with a potential employer. In either scenario, there is little to no expense to the employer. The student is responsible for paying all fees related to the visa as well as any service charges to the sponsor agency. In turn, the sponsor agency is the party responsible for the student’s immigration compliance. The employer—or “host company”—bears no responsibility for the international student beyond what is standard for all employees, irrespective of immigration status.

An hotelier interested in seeking a Summer Work Travel visa candidate should contact a sponsor agency (1) and request to be entered into their database of potential employers. Typically this service is offered free of charge, as the sponsor agency’s first priority is to find appropriate job placements for its enrolled students. The host company will have the opportunity to review the available job candidates and, once they have been placed, the employer should require that the individual complete a Form W-4 and complete Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification Form), just as it would for any other newly hired employee. The host company will also be required to withhold Social Security and taxes on the employee’s behalf. The student’s wage must meet or exceed minimum wage and overtime should be offered, wherever applicable.

As the name of the program implies, the Summer Work Travel program is available only during the student’s summer vacation. If you run a ski lodge in Colorado, however, don’t despair as students south of the equator are eligible to work during our winter season. According to one sponsor agency’s website, South African students are available to work beginning the last week of November and can continue until the third week of March. Other candidates in the southern hemisphere, from South America to Australia, have similar start dates.

Students enrolled in the Summer Work Travel program looking to make extra money, are eligible to take on a second job, but must do so at the discretion of their sponsor agency. If they feel abused or mistreated at their current place of work, the sponsor agencies will make every effort to mediate complaints between the parties. Since the student’s J-1 visa is not linked to any one sole employer, he or she may change employers mid-term. However, the sponsor agency, for its part, is likely to discourage the student from doing so unless absolutely necessary. Likewise, any employer who is dissatisfied with a student’s workplace demeanor or performance is free to dismiss him/her at will.

One potential caveat is that a favorite student may not extend the terms of his/her visa under any circumstances. If you are thrilled with a student’s performance and wish to host him or her again, you may explore additional, future hiring options but not through the J-1 visa program. In those situations, it is recommended that you consult an experienced immigration attorney to review other visa classifications that may be applicable to the employee in question. In some cases, largely depending upon the student’s country of origin, he/she is obligated to return to their home country for two years before attempting to come back to the United States, regardless of any prospective visa classifications.

In many ways, the international presence which foreign students bring to U.S. soil provides a certain worldliness and distinction to the hotel staff. Students from abroad offer a wealth of cultural understanding that can pay dividends in the hospitality industry, especially in hotels with international guests. Hotels located in high traffic tourist areas, too, may benefit by having a multilingual staff on hand. Furthermore, the energy and enthusiasm which these young employees exude, coupled with their own excitement to be in a new country, can be contagious and even inspire American staff to view their surroundings from new and different prospective. Oftentimes, employers too, feel a sense of nationalistic pride when offering Summer Work Travel opportunities to eager students abroad who are most anxious to experience America firsthand. It is this spirit of cultural exchange that drives the J-1 visa program and, conveniently, translates extraordinarily well to the hospitality industry. When looking ahead to your staffing needs of next summer, think Summer Work Travel J-1 visa program. It’s could be match made in heaven.

References

(1) List of Sponsor Agencies published by the Department of State: http://eca.state.gov/jexchanges/index.cfm?fuseaction=record.list&cat=12

Michael Wildes is the Mayor of Englewood, NJ, an immigration lawyer and a former federal prosecutor. As partner of preeminent immigration law firm Wildes & Weinberg, Wildes has become internationally renowned for having represented the United States Government in immigration proceedings, for the successful representation of several defectors who have provided hard-to-obtain national security information to the United States and, most recently, for obtaining an injunction to prevent Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi from residing in New Jersey during the 2009 UN Summit. Mr. Wildes can be contacted at 212-753-3468 or mwildes@wildesweinberg.com Extended Bio...

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