Information for Prospective Employers

Thank you for your interest in becoming an ERDT Host Employer.  ERDT’s flagship program, the SHARE! High School Exchange Program, has placed exchange students with volunteer host families all over the U.S. for over 40 years.  The ERDT Work & Travel Program is another opportunity for exchange students to experience U.S. culture, and your company will be essentially serving as a “host family” for these international youths.

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.

Agreement 

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 participants arrive to begin their programs;

    • 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 not accept any payment or incentives in exchange for job offers;

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

  • I will not allow the participant to work for me outside of their program dates;

  • 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. However, ERDT requires participants to work for their assigned job for at least 3 weeks upon arrival, as long as all the terms of the job offer (and housing plan, if applicable) are being met.

  • If it is important that the participant stays until a certain date, ERDT strongly recommends the employer 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.

The parties’ respective responsibilities:

  • ERDT’s partner agents overseas:

    • Advertise to and recruit prospective participants;

    • Screen and assess participants’ suitability for the program, including student status, financial status, and English ability;

    • Collect program fees, remitting a portion to ERDT and, in some cases, to a third party;

    • Assist participants with completing the ERDT application;

    • Prepare participants for their appointments at the embassy;

    • Provide a pre-arrival orientation to participants using materials from ERDT and based on their and their past participants’ experience.

  • ERDT, the sponsor:

    • Vets and trains prospective host employers;

    • Assists employers with providing/completing all required documentation, including a Business License and Worker’s Compensation, blank Job Offer(s), blank Housing Plan(s), and other information;

    • Screens and accepts or rejects incoming participant applications;

    • Provides participants with a post-arrival orientation;

    • Monitors participants at least monthly via email or other methods;

    • Provides assistance to participants with any issues that may come up during the program.

  • ERDT’s third parties may do any or all of the below:

    • Match participants with jobs that meet their interests and abilities;

    • Assists employers in selecting participants based on their resume and/or an interview;

    • Provide safe and affordable housing; and/or

    • Provide cultural activities.

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. 

After you have read the above, please complete this quiz to begin the application. You will then type your name to indicate agreement with all of the above policies.

Training