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Proving H-2B seasonal need is hardest for a brand-new company with no payroll history. This case study shows how a new resort-services contractor established H-2B seasonal need entirely from third-party evidence.
Client names, property names, locations and identifying details in this case study have been changed. The legal issues, the strategy and the outcome are real.
Key takeaways
- A new company with no payroll history can still prove a seasonal H-2B need. The evidence has to come from the market it serves: client contracts, public tourism data and government labor statistics.
- For staffing and service contractors, the worker count should be arithmetic, not an estimate. Build it from the hours in signed client letters of intent (LOIs), divided by hours per worker.
- Check the three-fourths guarantee against your contracted hours. If the schedule you promise exceeds the work you’ve sold, the application contradicts itself.
- When a Notice of Deficiency asks for evidence that does not exist, such as occupancy data for individually owned condo units, say so with proof. Build the record for appeal.
At a glance
- The employer (name changed): Seabright Property Services, a new contractor serving condominium resorts on a Gulf Coast beach
- The roles: Housekeepers (deep cleaning) and maintenance and repair workers
- The season: Winter off-season, November 15 to March 15 (filed August-September 2026)
- The problem: Notices of Deficiency on both applications, questioning the seasonal need (especially March) and the number of workers, and asking for occupancy rates and executed contracts
- The outcome: Both applications accepted for processing and moved into recruitment
The situation
Beach-resort condominiums run on two seasons. Summer is guest season, when housekeeping means quick turnovers between stays. Winter is when owners release units for the work that can’t happen with guests in residence: deep cleaning, carpet and upholstery work, painting, fixture replacement and general refurbishment. That off-season work has a predictable start and end, tied to the area’s tourism calendar.
Our client was a newly formed company contracted to do that winter work for three condominium associations. It had signed letters of intent from each property, specifying units released for refurbishment and the scope of work. It had no prior payroll, no prior seasons and no financial statements, because it was new.
The challenge: H-2B seasonal need without a history
Most employers prove H-2B seasonal need with their own records. A seasonal-need case is normally proven with the employer’s own history: payroll by month across prior years showing the same peak. A new company, however, has none. In addition, our client could not obtain the properties’ occupancy records, because each condo unit is individually owned. No association-wide occupancy figure exists.
The NODs did what NODs often do with a new business. First, they questioned whether March belonged in the season. They also questioned how the number of workers was reached. Finally, they requested property occupancy rates and executed contracts.
Our strategy
We built the H-2B seasonal need case from the market outward.
1. Prove the season with third-party data. The statement of need relied on public, verifiable sources:
- the county’s monthly tourist development tax collections, which track lodging revenue month by month;
- the local visitor bureau’s quarterly tourism-impact reports; and
- Bureau of Labor Statistics leisure-and-hospitality employment series for the metro area.
Taken together, they show low occupancy in winter and the spring ramp-up that closes the refurbishment window.
From client contracts to headcount
2. Turn contracts into headcount. For example, each housekeeping LOI stated the units released and the deep-clean scope. At about 20 hours per unit, and about 140 hours per worker per month, the arithmetic produced the worker count property by property. The maintenance LOIs stated a worker count and a fixed monthly hours package. The ETA-9142B requested exactly the sum, with a table showing each step.
Fixing the record before DOL did
3. Fix the three-fourths guarantee before DOL found it. The original schedule of 44 hours a week over the season produced a guarantee higher than the hours actually contracted per worker. We reduced the schedule to 40 hours, Monday to Friday, so the promise to workers fit the work sold.
4. Answer the impossible request with proof that it’s impossible. We did not invent occupancy numbers. The NOD response added three short support letters, one from each property. Each confirmed that its units are individually owned, that the association keeps no property-wide occupancy data, and that it released units for winter work on the stated schedule. The rest of the response pointed the officer to evidence already in the record.
5. Clean up the job orders. State job orders often drift from the federal application. Ours needed corrections before posting: the occupational code DOL assigned, the hours, the duration, a single contact set, the named worksites, and the required assurances: the three-fourths guarantee, deductions, and daily transportation.
The outcome
DOL issued Notices of Acceptance on both applications in October 2026, and recruitment of U.S. workers began. The approach is now our template for new contractors in seasonal service markets.
What this means for your business
A new company can prove H-2B seasonal need. If you are a new H-2B employer, your history is your clients’ history and your market’s history. Get signed LOIs that state units, hours or worker counts. Pull public tourism and labor data for your area by month. Do the arithmetic in the application. And when DOL asks for something that doesn’t exist, prove that it doesn’t exist. Guessing is not an option.
Learn about H-2B visa applications for businesses, or read our H-2B preview and recap.
Official sources: the H-2B temporary-need standard at 20 CFR Part 655, Subpart A, DOL’s H-2B program page, and the BLS State and Metro Area Employment data.
Frequently asked questions
Can a new business prove H-2B seasonal need?
Yes. A new business must still prove a temporary need, usually seasonal or peakload, without its own history. Third-party evidence works: signed client contracts or letters of intent, local tourism-tax data, visitor-bureau reports and BLS employment series.
How do I calculate the number of H-2B workers to request?
Start from the work you have actually contracted. Total the hours in your client agreements, then divide by the hours one worker can perform in the period. Show the arithmetic in your application, and make sure your schedule doesn’t promise more hours than the contracts provide.
What is the H-2B three-fourths guarantee?
Under 20 CFR 655.20(f), the employer must offer each worker employment for at least three-fourths of the workdays in each 12-week period, or each 6-week period for shorter certifications. If contracted work falls short, the employer still owes pay for the guaranteed hours. Appropriations riders have limited DOL’s enforcement of the guarantee in recent years, but it remains a required assurance in every H-2B job order, and workers can rely on it.
Starting a seasonal service business that needs H-2B workers? Contact Frontera Labor.
Attorney advertising. This case study describes matters with identifying details changed. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. This article is general information, not legal advice for your situation.
