Labor Department, Employment and Training Administration
The Department of Labor (Department or DOL) is amending its regulations governing the certification of agricultural labor or services to be performed by temporary foreign workers in H-2A nonimmigrant status (H-2A workers). Specifically, the Department is amending its regulations to revise the methodology by which it determines the hourly Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWRs) for non-range agricultural occupations using wage data reported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Farm Labor Survey (FLS) and the Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey. This final rule improves the consistency and accuracy of the AEWRs based on the actual work being performed by H-2A workers, and establishes better stability and predictability for employers to comply with their wage obligations. These regulations are consistent with the Secretary of Labor's (Secretary) statutory responsibility to certify that the employment of H-2A workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of workers in the United States similarly employed. While the Department intends to address all of the remaining proposals from the July 26, 2019 proposed rule in a subsequent, second final rule governing other aspects of the certification of agricultural labor or services to be performed by H-2A workers and enforcement of the contractual obligations applicable to employers of such nonimmigrant workers, the Department focused this final rule on the immediate need for regulatory action to revise the methodology by which it determines the hourly AEWRs for non-range agricultural occupations before the end of the calendar year.
Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration 20 CFR Part 655 [DOL Docket No. ETA-2019-0007] RIN 1205-AB89 AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Department of Labor. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (Department or DOL) is amending its regulations governing the certification of agricultural labor or services to be performed by temporary foreign workers in H-2A nonimmigrant status (H-2A workers). Specifically, the Department is amending its regulations to revise the methodology by which it determines the hourly Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWRs) for non-range agricultural occupations using wage data reported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Farm Labor Survey (FLS) and the Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey. This final rule improves the consistency and accuracy of the AEWRs based on the actual work being performed by H-2A workers, and establishes better stability and predictability for employers to comply with their wage obligations. These regulations are consistent with the Secretary of Labor's (Secretary) statutory responsibility to certify that the employment of H-2A workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of workers in the United States similarly employed. While the Department intends to address all of the remaining proposals from the July 26, 2019 proposed rule in a subsequent, second final rule governing other aspects of the certific…
Other Federal Register documents from the same docket.
Temporary Agricultural Employment of H-2A Nonimmigrants in the United States; Ratification of Department's Actions
Temporary Agricultural Employment of H-2A Nonimmigrants in the United States
Temporary Agricultural Employment of H-2A Nonimmigrants in the United States
Citation: 85 FR 70445
