Notice2023-27435
Labor Certification Process for the Temporary Employment of Foreign Workers in Agriculture in the United States: Adverse Effect Wage Rates for Non-Range Occupations in 2024
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
December 14, 2023
Effective
January 1, 2024
Issuing agencies
Labor DepartmentEmployment and Training Administration
Abstract
The Employment and Training Administration of the Department of Labor (DOL) is issuing this notice to announce the 2024 Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWR) for the employment of temporary or seasonal nonimmigrant foreign workers (H-2A workers) to perform agricultural labor or services other than the herding or production of livestock on the range. AEWRs are the minimum wage rates the DOL has determined must be offered, advertised in recruitment, and paid by employers to H-2A workers and workers in corresponding employment so that the wages and working conditions of workers in the United States (U.S.) similarly employed will not be adversely affected. The AEWRs established in this notice are applicable to H-2A job opportunities that are both: classified in one (or more) of the six Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes comprising the field and livestock workers (combined) category, and located in States or regions, or equivalent districts or territories, in which the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Farm Labor Report (better known as the Farm Labor Survey, or FLS) reports wages. In this notice, DOL also announces an update to the average AEWR, which is used to calculate adjustments to required bond amounts for H-2A Labor Contractors.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 239 (Thursday, December 14, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 239 (Thursday, December 14, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 86677-86679]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-27435]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training Administration
Labor Certification Process for the Temporary Employment of
Foreign Workers in Agriculture in the United States: Adverse Effect
Wage Rates for Non-Range Occupations in 2024
AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Department of Labor.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Employment and Training Administration of the Department
of Labor (DOL) is issuing this notice to announce the 2024 Adverse
Effect Wage Rates (AEWR) for the employment of temporary or seasonal
nonimmigrant foreign workers (H-2A workers) to perform agricultural
labor or services other than the herding or production of livestock on
the range. AEWRs are the minimum wage rates the DOL has determined must
be offered, advertised in recruitment, and paid by employers to H-2A
workers and workers in corresponding employment so that the wages and
working conditions of workers in the United States (U.S.) similarly
employed will not be adversely affected. The AEWRs established in this
notice are applicable to H-2A job opportunities that are both:
classified in one (or more) of the six Standard Occupational
Classification (SOC) codes comprising the field and livestock workers
(combined) category, and located in States or regions, or equivalent
districts or territories, in which the United States Department of
Agriculture's (USDA) Farm Labor Report (better known as the Farm Labor
Survey, or FLS) reports wages. In this notice, DOL also announces an
update to the average AEWR, which is used to calculate adjustments to
required bond amounts for H-2A Labor Contractors.
DATES: These rates are effective January 1, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Pasternak, Administrator, Office
of Foreign Labor Certification, Employment and Training Administration,
U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Room N-5311,
Washington, DC 20210, telephone: (202) 693-8200 (this is not a toll-
free number). Individuals with hearing or speech impairments may access
the telephone numbers above via TTY/TDD by calling the toll-free
Federal Information Relay Service at 1 (877) 889-5627.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services of the Department of Homeland Security
[[Page 86678]]
will not approve an employer's petition for the admission of H-2A
nonimmigrant temporary and seasonal agricultural workers into the U.S.
unless the petitioner has received an H-2A labor certification from
DOL. The labor certification provides that: (1) there are not
sufficient U.S. workers who are able, willing, and qualified and who
will be available at the time and place needed to perform the labor or
services for which the employer desires to hire temporary foreign
workers; and (2) the employment of the foreign worker(s) in such labor
or services will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions
of workers in the U.S. similarly employed. See 8 U.S.C.
1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a), 1184(c)(1), and 1188(a); 8 CFR 214.2(h)(5); 20
CFR 655.100.
FLS-Based AEWR Updates
DOL's H-2A regulations at 20 CFR 655.122(l) provide that employers
must pay their H-2A workers and workers in corresponding employment at
least the highest of: (i) the AEWR; (ii) a prevailing wage rate if the
Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) Administrator has approved
a prevailing wage survey for the applicable crop or agricultural
activity and, if applicable, a distinct work task or tasks performed in
that activity; (iii) the agreed-upon collective bargaining wage rate;
(iv) the Federal minimum wage rate; or (v) the State minimum wage rate,
for every hour or portion thereof worked during a pay period. Further,
when the AEWR is adjusted during a work contract and is higher than the
highest of the previous AEWR, a prevailing rate for the crop or
agricultural activity and, if applicable, a distinct work task or tasks
performed in that activity and geographic area, the agreed-upon
collective bargaining wage, the Federal minimum wage rate, or the State
minimum wage rate, the employer must pay at least that adjusted AEWR
upon the effective date of the new rate, as provided in the applicable
Federal Register Notice. See 20 CFR 655.120(b)(3). When the AEWR is
adjusted during a work contract and is lower than the wage rate that is
guaranteed on the job order, the employer must continue to pay at least
the wage rate guaranteed on the job order. See 20 CFR 655.120(b)(4).
On February 28, 2023, DOL published a final rule, Adverse Effect
Wage Rate Methodology for the Temporary Employment of H-2A
Nonimmigrants in Non-Range Occupations in the United States, 88 FR
12760 (Feb. 28, 2023), to establish a new methodology for setting
hourly AEWRs, effective March 30, 2023. Pursuant to this new rule,
while most AEWRs will continue to be based, as they have been since
1987, on the USDA FLS, AEWRs based on DOL's Bureau of Labor Statistics
(BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey will
apply to H-2A job opportunities that are: (1) classified in SOC codes
other than the six SOC codes comprising the field and livestock workers
(combined) category, and/or (2) located in States or regions, or
equivalent districts or territories, for which the USDA FLS does not
report a wage.\1\
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\1\ In the event an employer's job opportunity requires the
performance of agricultural labor or services that are not
encompassed in a single SOC code's description and tasks, the
applicable AEWR will be the highest AEWR for all applicable SOCs.
See 20 CFR 655.120(b)(5).
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The new final rule requires the OFLC Administrator to publish a
Federal Register Notice at least once in each calendar year to
establish each AEWR. See 20 CFR 655.120(b)(2). The OFLC Administrator
provides this notice by publishing two separate announcements in the
Federal Register, one to update the non-range AEWRs based on the wage
data reported by the USDA's FLS, effective on or about January 1, and a
second to update the non-range AEWRs based on data reported by the BLS
OEWS survey, effective on or about July 1.\2\
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\2\ See 88 FR at 12775; see also Labor Certification Process for
the Temporary Employment of Foreign Workers in Agriculture in the
United States: Adverse Effect Wage Rate Updates for Non-Range
Occupations, 88 FR 39482 (Jun. 16, 2023).
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The 2024 AEWRs for all non-range agricultural employment classified
in the field and livestock workers (combined) category are the annual
average hourly gross wage rates for field and livestock workers
(combined) in the State or region as published by the USDA in the
November 2023 FLS.\3\ Accordingly, the 2024 AEWRs to be offered,
advertised in recruitment, and paid for agricultural work performed by
H-2A and workers in corresponding employment on and after the effective
date of this notice are set forth in the table below:
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\3\ See U.S. Dep't of Agriculture, Nat'l Agricultural Statistics
Service, Farm Labor: Annual Average Gross Wage Rates by Type of
Worker--Regions and United States: 2022 and 2023 (Nov. 22, 2023),
pp. 25-26, available at <a href="https://downloads.usda.library.cornell.edu/usda-esmis/files/x920fw89s/v405tw18s/dn39zk84n/fmla1123.pdf">https://downloads.usda.library.cornell.edu/usda-esmis/files/x920fw89s/v405tw18s/dn39zk84n/fmla1123.pdf</a>.
Table--2024 Adverse Effect Wage Rates
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State 2024 AEWRs
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Alabama.................................................... $14.68
Arizona.................................................... 16.32
Arkansas................................................... 14.53
California................................................. 19.75
Colorado................................................... 16.63
Connecticut................................................ 17.80
Delaware................................................... 17.20
Florida.................................................... 14.77
Georgia.................................................... 14.68
Hawaii..................................................... 18.74
Idaho...................................................... 16.54
Illinois................................................... 18.18
Indiana.................................................... 18.18
Iowa....................................................... 17.79
Kansas..................................................... 18.32
Kentucky................................................... 15.14
Louisiana.................................................. 14.53
Maine...................................................... 17.80
Maryland................................................... 17.20
Massachusetts.............................................. 17.80
Michigan................................................... 18.50
Minnesota.................................................. 18.50
Mississippi................................................ 14.53
Missouri................................................... 17.79
Montana.................................................... 16.54
Nebraska................................................... 18.32
Nevada..................................................... 16.63
New Hampshire.............................................. 17.80
New Jersey................................................. 17.20
New Mexico................................................. 16.32
New York................................................... 17.80
North Carolina............................................. 15.81
North Dakota............................................... 18.32
Ohio....................................................... 18.18
Oklahoma................................................... 15.55
Oregon..................................................... 19.25
Pennsylvania............................................... 17.20
Rhode Island............................................... 17.80
South Carolina............................................. 14.68
South Dakota............................................... 18.32
Tennessee.................................................. 15.14
Texas...................................................... 15.55
Utah....................................................... 16.63
Vermont.................................................... 17.80
Virginia................................................... 15.81
Washington................................................. 19.25
West Virginia.............................................. 15.14
Wisconsin.................................................. 18.50
Wyoming.................................................... 16.54
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The AEWRs set forth in the table above are the AEWRs applicable to
the following SOC titles and codes: Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop,
Nursery, and Greenhouse (45-2092), Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and
Aquacultural Animals (45-2093); Agricultural Equipment Operators (45-
2091); Packers and Packagers, Hand (53-7064); Graders and Sorters,
Agricultural Products (45-2041); and All Other Agricultural Workers
(45-2099). Accordingly, the simple average of these AEWRs constitutes
the average AEWR, which is used to calculate the bond amounts required
for H-2A Labor Contractors. See 20 CFR 655.103(b) (definition of
average AEWR), 655.132(c)(2)(ii) (use of average AEWR in calculating
bond requirements). The
[[Page 86679]]
simple average is calculated by finding the sum of the AEWRs listed in
the table above, then dividing by the total number of AEWRs, which is
currently 49 ($831.98/49 = $16.98). On and after the effective date of
this notice, the average AEWR to be used to calculate the bond amounts
required under 20 CFR 655.132(c)(2) is $16.98.
Authority: 20 CFR 655.120(b)(2); 20 CFR 655.103(b).
Lenita Jacobs-Simmons,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, Labor.
[FR Doc. 2023-27435 Filed 12-13-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-FP-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 14, 2023.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.