Notice2025-12910
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
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
July 11, 2025
Effective
July 11, 2025
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 updates to the 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 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. In this notice, DOL announces the AEWRs based on wage data reported by DOL's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey. The AEWRs established in this notice are applicable to H-2A job opportunities classified: (1) in Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes other than the six SOC codes comprising the field and livestock workers (combined) group, and (2) in the field and livestock workers (combined) occupational group that are located in States or regions, or equivalent districts or territories, for which the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Farm Labor Report (better known as the Farm Labor Survey, or FLS) does not report a wage.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 131 (Friday, July 11, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 131 (Friday, July 11, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30988-30989]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-12910]
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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 Rate Updates for Non-Range Occupations
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 updates to the
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 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. In this
notice, DOL announces the AEWRs based on wage data reported by DOL's
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage
Statistics (OEWS) survey. The AEWRs established in this notice are
applicable to H-2A job opportunities classified: (1) in Standard
Occupational Classification (SOC) codes other than the six SOC codes
comprising the field and livestock workers (combined) group, and (2) in
the field and livestock workers (combined) occupational group that are
located in States or regions, or equivalent districts or territories,
for which the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Farm
Labor Report (better known as the Farm Labor Survey, or FLS) does not
report a wage.
DATES: These rates are effective July 11, 2025. However, for entities
and states subject to the court order in Kansas et al. v. U.S. Dep't of
Labor, these rates are effective July 25, 2025.
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). For persons with a hearing or speech disability who need
assistance to use the telephone system, please dial 711 to access
telecommunications relay services.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services of the Department of Homeland Security will not approve an
employer's petition for the admission of H-2A nonimmigrant temporary
and seasonal agricultural workers in 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 involved in the petition; 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.
DOL 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 various specified wage sources, including the
AEWR. Further, when the AEWR is updated during a work contract, the
employer must pay at least that updated AEWR upon the effective date of
the new AEWR, if the
[[Page 30989]]
updated AEWR is higher than the highest of the previous AEWRs, a
prevailing rate for the crop activity 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. See 20 CFR
655.120(b)(3). Similarly, when the AEWR is updated 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).
Pursuant to the 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), most
AEWRs will continue to be based, as they have been since 1987, on the
USDA FLS. The OEWS-based AEWRs apply to H-2A job opportunities
classified: (1) in SOC codes other than the six SOC codes comprising
the field and livestock workers (combined) group, or (2) in the field
and livestock workers (combined) occupational group that are 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 final rule, noted above, requires the OFLC Administrator to
publish a Federal Register Notice at least once in each calendar year
to establish each set of AEWRs. 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 and a second to
update the AEWRs based on data reported by the BLS OEWS survey. See 88
FR at 12775.
OEWS-Based AEWR Updates
In accordance with 20 CFR 655.120(b)(1)(ii), AEWRs for agricultural
employment not represented by the six SOC codes comprising the field
and livestock worker (combined) group \2\ for which temporary H-2A
certification is being sought is determined using the statewide annual
average hourly gross wage for the SOC code for the State, or equivalent
district or territory, as reported by the OEWS survey. In the event the
OEWS survey does not report an average hourly gross wage for the SOC
code for the State, or equivalent district or territory, the AEWR is
determined using the national average hourly gross wage for the SOC as
reported by the OEWS survey.
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\2\ The FLS survey's field and livestock workers (combined)
category reports aggregate wage data for the following six 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).
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Using the most recently published OEWS survey,\3\ the OFLC
Administrator is publishing the statewide hourly AEWRs applicable to H-
2A job opportunities classified using an SOC code not included in the
field and livestock workers (combined) group.\4\ The hourly AEWRs
determined under 20 CFR 655.120(b)(1)(ii) are available for each SOC
code and geographic area at the following URL: <a href="https://flag.dol.gov/wage-data/adverse-effect-wage-rates">https://flag.dol.gov/wage-data/adverse-effect-wage-rates</a>. At the URL, DOL provides a
searchable spreadsheet and other resources that enable interested
parties to search by State and SOC code for the OEWS-based AEWR
applicable to an H-2A job opportunity.
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\3\ See Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and
Wage Statistics (OEWS) data, OEWS Databases (Apr. 2, 2025),
available at <a href="https://www.bls.gov/oes/data.htm">https://www.bls.gov/oes/data.htm</a>. Note that the OEWS
data released in April 2025 represent May 2024 estimates.
\4\ See 20 CFR 655.120(b)(1)(iii) (``For purposes of paragraphs
(b)(1)(i) and (ii) of this section, the term State and statewide
include the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico,
and the U.S. Virgin Islands.'').
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In addition, where the FLS survey does not report an annual average
gross wage for the field and livestock workers (combined) group in a
State or region, or equivalent district or territory, the AEWRs
applicable to the field and livestock workers (combined) group is
established using the statewide annual average hourly gross wage for
the field and livestock workers (combined) group in the State, or
equivalent district or territory, as reported by the OEWS survey. See
20 CFR 655.120(b)(1)(i)(B). OFLC establishes these AEWRs by computing
data reported in the OEWS, and utilizing a methodology devised by BLS.
A summary of the methodology is available at <a href="https://flag.dol.gov/wage-data/adverse-effect-wage-rates">https://flag.dol.gov/wage-data/adverse-effect-wage-rates</a>. In the event the OEWS survey does not
report a statewide average hourly gross wage for the field and
livestock workers (combined) group for the State, or equivalent
district or territory, the AEWR is determined using the national
average hourly gross wage for field and livestock workers (combined)
group as reported by the OEWS survey. See 20 CFR 655.120(b)(1)(i)(C).
Using the most recently published OEWS survey, the OFLC
Administrator is publishing the hourly AEWRs applicable to H-2A job
opportunities classified in the field and livestock workers (combined)
group, in States or regions, or equivalent districts or territories,
where an annual average hourly gross wage is not reported by the FLS.
These hourly AEWRs are available at <a href="https://flag.dol.gov/wage-data/adverse-effect-wage-rates">https://flag.dol.gov/wage-data/adverse-effect-wage-rates</a> and in the table below:
Table--Adverse Effect Wage Rates for Field and Livestock Workers
[Combined]
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State/district/territory AEWRs
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Alaska......................................................... $20.04
District of Columbia........................................... 20.79
Guam........................................................... 10.67
Puerto Rico.................................................... 10.36
U.S. Virgin Islands............................................ 13.69
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Authority: 20 CFR 655.120(b)(2); 20 CFR 655.103(b).
Susan Frazier,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, Labor.
[FR Doc. 2025-12910 Filed 7-10-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-FP-P
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