[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 27 (Thursday, February 8, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4800-4801]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-2714]



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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Labor Certification Process for the Temporary Employment of 
Aliens in Agriculture and Logging in the United States: 1996 Adverse 
Effect Wage Rates and Allowable Charges for Agricultural and Logging 
Workers' Meals

AGENCY: U.S. Employment Service, Employment and Training 
Administration, Labor.

ACTION: Notice of adverse effect wage rates (AEWRs) and allowable 
charges for meals for 1996.

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SUMMARY: The Director, U.S. Employment Service, announces 1996 adverse 
effect wage rates (AEWRs) for employers seeking nonimmigrant alien (H-
2A) workers for temporary or seasonal agricultural labor or services 
and the allowable charges employers seeking nonimmigrant alien workers 
for temporary or seasonal agricultural labor or services or logging 
work may levy upon their workers when they provide three meals per day.
    AEWRs are the minimum wage rates which the Department of Labor has 
determined must be offered and paid to U.S. and alien workers by 
employers of nonimmigrant alien agricultural workers (H-2A 
visaholders). AEWRs are established to prevent the employment of these 
aliens from adversely affecting wages of similarly employed U.S. 
workers.
    The Director also announces the new rates which covered 
agricultural and logging employers may charge their workers for three 
daily meals.

EFFECTIVE DATE: February 8, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mr. John M. Robinson, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Employment and 
Training, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-4700, 200 Constitution 
Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210. Telephone: 202-219-5257 (this is not 
a toll-free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Attorney General may not approve an 
employer's petition for admission of temporary alien agricultural (H-
2A) workers to perform agricultural labor or services of a temporary or 
seasonal nature in the United States unless the petitioner has applied 
to the Department of Labor (DOL) for an H-2A labor certification. The 
labor certification must show 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 alien in such labor or 
services will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of 
workers in the United States similarly employed. 8 U.S.C. 
1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a), 1184(c), and 1188.
    DOL's regulations for the H-2A program require that covered 
employers offer and pay their U.S. and H-2A workers no less than the 
applicable hourly adverse effect wage rate (AEWR). 20 CFR 
655.102(b)(9); see also 20 CFR 655.107. Reference should be made to the 
preamble to the July 5, 1989, final rule (54 FR 28037), which explains 
in great depth the purpose and history of AEWRs, DOL's discretion in 
setting AEWRs, and the AEWR computation methodology at 20 CFR 
655.107(a). See also 52 FR 20496, 20502-20505 (June 1, 1987).

A. Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWRs) for 1996

    Adverse effect wage rates (AEWRs) are the minimum wage rates which 
DOL has determined must be offered and paid to U.S. and alien workers 
by employers of nonimmigrant (H-2A) agricultural workers. DOL 
emphasizes, however, that such employers must pay the highest of the 
AEWR, the applicable prevailing wage or the statutory minimum wage, as 
specified in the regulations. 20 CFR 655.102(b)(9). Except as otherwise 
provided in 20 CFR Part 655, Subpart B, the regionwide AEWR for all 
agricultural employment (except those occupations deemed inappropriate 
under the special circumstances provisions of 20 CFR 

[[Page 4801]]
655.93) for which temporary alien agricultural labor (H-2A) 
certification is being sought, is equal to the annual weighted average 
hourly wage rate for field and livestock workers (combined) for the 
region as published annually by the U.S. Department of Agriculture 
(USDA does not provide data on Alaska). 20 CFR 655.107(a).
    The regulation at 20 CFR 655.107(a) requires the Director, U.S. 
Employment Service, to publish USDA field and livestock worker 
(combined) wage data as AEWRs in a Federal Register notice. 
Accordingly, the 1996 AEWRs for work performed on or after the 
effective date of this notice, are set forth in the table below:

             Table.--1996 Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWRs)             
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                                                                  1996  
                             State                                AEWR  
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama.......................................................     $5.40
Arizona.......................................................      5.87
Arkansas......................................................      5.27
California....................................................      6.26
Colorado......................................................      5.64
Connecticut...................................................      6.36
Delaware......................................................      5.97
Florida.......................................................      6.54
Georgia.......................................................      5.40
Hawaii........................................................      8.60
Idaho.........................................................      5.76
Illinois......................................................      6.23
Indiana.......................................................      6.23
Iowa..........................................................      5.90
Kansas........................................................      6.29
Kentucky......................................................      5.54
Louisiana.....................................................      5.27
Maine.........................................................      6.36
Maryland......................................................      5.97
Massachusetts.................................................      6.36
Michigan......................................................      6.19
Minnesota.....................................................      6.19
Mississippi...................................................      5.27
Missouri......................................................      5.90
Montana.......................................................      5.76
Nebraska......................................................      6.29
Nevada........................................................      5.64
New Hampshire.................................................      6.36
New Jersey....................................................      5.97
New Mexico....................................................      5.87
New York......................................................      6.36
North Carolina................................................      5.80
North Dakota..................................................      6.29
Ohio..........................................................      6.23
Oklahoma......................................................      5.50
Oregon........................................................      6.82
Pennsylvania..................................................      5.97
Rhode Island..................................................      6.36
South Carolina................................................      5.40
South Dakota..................................................      6.29
Tennessee.....................................................      5.54
Texas.........................................................      5.50
Utah..........................................................      5.64
Vermont.......................................................      6.36
Virginia......................................................      5.80
Washington....................................................      6.82
West Virginia.................................................      5.54
Wisconsin.....................................................      6.19
Wyoming.......................................................      5.76
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B. Allowable Meal Charges

    Among the minimum benefits and working conditions which DOL 
requires employers to offer their alien and U.S. workers in their 
applications for temporary logging and H-2A agricultural labor 
certification is the provision of three meals per day or free and 
convenient cooking and kitchen facilities. 20 CFR 655.102(b)(4) and 
655.202(b)(4). Where the employer provides meals, the job offer must 
state the charge, if any, to the worker for meals.
    DOL has published at 20 CFR 655.102(b)(4) and 655.111(a) the 
methodology for determining the maximum amounts covered H-2A 
agricultural employers may charge their U.S. and foreign workers for 
meals. The same methodology is applied at 20 CFR 655.202(b)(4) and 
655.211(a) to covered H-2B logging employers. These rules provide for 
annual adjustments of the previous year's allowable charges based upon 
Consumer Price Index (CPI) data.
    Each year the maximum charges allowed by 20 CFR 655.102(b)(4) and 
655.202(b)(4) are changed by the same percentage as the twelve-month 
percent change in the CPI for all Urban Consumers for Food (CPI-U for 
Food) between December of the year just past and December of the year 
prior to that. Those regulations and 20 CFR 655.111(a) and 655.211(a) 
provide that the appropriate Regional Administrator (RA), Employment 
and Training Administration, may permit an employer to charge workers 
no more than a higher maximum amount for providing them with three 
meals a day, if justified and sufficiently documented. Each year, the 
higher maximum amounts permitted by 20 CFR 655.111(a) and 655.211(a) 
are changed by the same percentage as the twelve-month percent change 
in the CPI-U for Food between December of the year just past and 
December of the year prior to that. The regulations require the 
Director, U.S. Employment Service, to make the annual adjustments and 
to cause a notice to be published in the Federal Register each calendar 
year, announcing annual adjustments in allowable charges that may be 
made by covered agricultural and logging employers for providing three 
meals daily to their U.S. and alien workers. The 1995 rates were 
published in a notice on February 7, 1995 at 60 FR 7215.
    DOL has determined the percentage change between December of 1994 
and December of 1995 for the CPI-U for Food was 2.8 percent.
    Accordingly, the maximum allowable charges under 20 CFR 
655.102(b)(4), 655.202(b)(4), 655.111, and 655.211 were adjusted using 
this percentage change, and the new permissible charges for 1996 are as 
follows: (1) for 20 CFR 655.102(b)(4) and 655.202(b)(4), the charge, if 
any, shall be no more than $7.17 per day, unless the RA has approved a 
higher charge pursuant to 20 CFR 655.111 or 655.211(b); for 20 CFR 
655.111 and 655.211, the RA may permit an employer to charge workers up 
to $8.95 per day for providing them with three meals per day, if the 
employer justifies the charge and submits to the RA the documentation 
required to support the higher charge.

    Signed at Washington, D.C., this 1st day of February, 1996.
John M. Robinson,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, U.S. Employment 
Service.
[FR Doc. 96-2714 Filed 2-7-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-M