Mid-Program Job Offer

Please read:

Only a participant’s prospective employer may complete this form. Do not complete this if you are a participant, or any other party.

This form is only to be used for participants who are already in the U.S.A. If you need to complete paperwork for a student who is applying to come to the U.S.A., email emily@erdtworkandtravel.org for the link.

Employer: Do not allow the student to begin working or training until you have completed this online process and have received an email from ERDT, indicating the student may start work. Government regulations require us to terminate the program of any participant who starts working or training in a job without having received our permission. Termination puts the student on a list of persons to be detained and deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The following process will take 10-20 minutes. Before you start, please ensure you have the following items:

  • Your business’s Employer Identification Number (EIN or FEIN)

  • A copy of your business’s unexpired Worker’s Compensation Certificate

  • A copy of your business’s unexpired Business License (this can be a sales tax license, food permit, etc, just some proof that you currently have permission to do business in your city, county or state).

  • All of your business’s owners’, officers’, and managers' names, telephone numbers, email addresses, workplace addresses, and job titles (ERDT will likely not use this info, but it is a U.S. Dept of State requirement that we collect it)

  • If you provide housing:

    • Photos of all rooms, plus one of the exterior

    • Any housing documentation (lease, sublease, rules, payment plan, etc) that you will have the students sign

  • Access to your email (we recommend that you ensure your spam settings are set so that emails from emily@erdtworkandtravel.org and noreply@hanover.com never go to spam.)

Part 1: Employer Agreement

ERDT and the U.S. Department of State have developed the below policies to ensure a positive and safe exchange experience for student and host. Please read them carefully as some may be unfamiliar or surprising. 

By applying to become an ERDT employer, you are agreeing to ensure that:

  • All participants receive the number of hours agreed to in their job offer;

  • Participants never work more than 4 hours between 10 pm and 6 am;

  • Federal unemployment tax (also known as FUTA or FICA), Medicare and Social Security will not be deducted from this participant’s paycheck. You verify that your payroll system will allow this;

  • In the case of a negative result with E-Verify, you will follow E-Verify’s mandated procedures for negative results;

  • The participant will be allowed to begin work as soon as he/she has a letter from Social Security saying that he/she has successfully applied for a Social Security number. You verify that your payroll system will allow for this.

You are also verifying that participants will never perform the below prohibited jobs or tasks: 

  • Non-seasonal positions, or any positions where participants would displace U.S workers;

  • At a staffing company that does not provide full-time, on-site primary supervision of the participants;

  • Driving any vehicle, whether motorized or non-motorized, while on the clock;

  • Adult entertainment, piercing, tattooing, massage, manicure, clinical/patient care, contaminated laundry;

  • Any position requiring a license, including gambling, wagering or firearm use;

  • Teacher, intern, trainee, camp counselor;

  • Positions in private homes (child or elder care, gardener, housekeeper, chauffeur, personal assistant);

  • Sales positions that require participants to purchase inventory that they must sell in to support themselves, or positions that are substantially commission-based and do not guarantee minimum wage;

  • Positions with traveling fairs, itinerant concessionaires or any job where a student’s housing will change regularly throughout their program;

  • Chemical pest control, warehousing, catalogue/online order distribution centers, agriculture, forestry, timber, logging, fishing, hunting, mining, quarrying, oil or gas extraction, construction, manufacturing, wrecking, excavation, demolition, shipbreaking, roofing, forest fire fighting or prevention, or the slaughtering, rendering, processing or packing of meat, poultry or fish packing.

  • Operating any kind of mill, saw, power-driven woodworking, hoisting, metal forming, punching, shearing, bakery or paper-products machines; balers; compactors; guillotine shears, wood chippers, and abrasive cutting discs; in occupations involving exposure to radioactive substances or proximity to explosives;

You are agreeing to the following:

  • I will notify ERDT promptly:

    • When there are any changes in the job placements, such as duties, location or hours;

    • When participants are not meeting the requirements of their job placements; and/or

    • When participants leave their positions ahead of their planned departures;

  • I will pay overtime in accordance with applicable State or Federal law;

  • I will not allow the participant to work for me after the program end date on their visa;

  • I will notify ERDT in the event of any emergency or situation impacting the students’ health, safety, or welfare; and

  • If I provide housing and/or transportation, it will be safe, reliable, affordable, and convenient.

Finally, you are verifying that you understand:

  • If ERDT suspects that a participant is not being compensated in accordance with the law, ERDT will assist the participant in filing a Wage Claim with your state’s department of labor.

  • The participant is employed “at will” and may quit or be fired at any time. If it is important that the participant stays until a certain date, ERDT strongly recommends you pay an end-of-season bonus.  You may also offer a bonus to students who give two weeks notice before quitting, if you wish. ERDT cannot force a participant to stay in any job.

If you have any questions or cannot comply with all of these policies, please email emily@erdtworkandtravel.org.  Should this agreement be violated, ERDT reserves the right to report the employer to state and local authorities & the U.S. Department of State.