[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 238 (Wednesday, December 15, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71282-71283]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-27119]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 2022

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Department of Labor.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the 
Department of Labor (DOL) is issuing this notice to announce the 2022 
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 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 updates 
of the AEWRs.

DATES: These rates are applicable December 29, 2021.

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 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.

Adverse Effect Wage Rates for 2022

    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) the prevailing hourly wage 
rate; (iii) the prevailing piece rate; (iv) the agreed-upon collective 
bargaining wage rate; or (v) the federal or state minimum wage rate in 
effect at the time the work is performed. Further, when the AEWR is 
adjusted during a work contract and is higher than the highest of the 
previous AEWR, the prevailing rate, the agreed-upon collective 
bargaining wage, the federal minimum wage rate, or the state minimum 
wage rate, the employer must pay that adjusted AEWR upon the effective 
date of the new rate, as provided in the applicable Federal Register 
Notice. See 20 CFR 655.122(l) (requiring the applicable AEWR or other 
wage rate to be paid based on the AEWR or rate in effect ``at the time 
work is performed'').
    On November 5, 2020, 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, 85 FR 
70445 (2020 AEWR Final Rule), to establish a new methodology for 
setting hourly AEWRs, effective December 21, 2020. However, on December 
23, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of 
California issued an order enjoining DOL from implementing the 2020 
AEWR Final Rule and ordering DOL to set the hourly AEWRs using the 
methodology set forth in the Temporary Agricultural Employment of H-2A 
Aliens in the United States, 75 FR 6884 (Feb. 12, 2010) (2010 H-2A 
Final Rule). See Order Granting Plaintiffs' Motion for a Preliminary 
Injunction, United Farm Workers, et al. v. U.S. Dep't of Labor, et al., 
No. 20-cv-1690 (E.D. Cal.), ECF No. 37. Pursuant to that order, DOL has 
used the methodology set forth in the 2010 H-2A Final Rule to determine 
the 2022 AEWRs.
    Accordingly, the 2022 AEWRs for all agricultural employment (except 
for the herding or production of livestock on the range, which is 
covered by 20 CFR 655.200 through 655.235) for which temporary H-2A 
certification is being sought is equal to the annual weighted average 
hourly wage rate for field and livestock workers (combined) in the 
state or region as published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture 
(USDA) in the November 24, 2021 Farm Labor Report. The 2010 H-2A Final 
Rule, 20 CFR 655.120(c), requires that the Administrator of the Office 
of Foreign Labor Certification publish the USDA field and livestock 
worker (combined) wage data as AEWRs in a Federal Register Notice. 
Accordingly, the 2022 AEWRs to be 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:

                  Table--2022 Adverse Effect Wage Rates
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                          State                             2022 AEWRs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama.................................................          $11.99
Arizona.................................................           14.79
Arkansas................................................           12.45
California..............................................           17.51
Colorado................................................           15.58
Connecticut.............................................           15.66
Delaware................................................           15.54
Florida.................................................           12.41
Georgia.................................................           11.99
Hawaii..................................................           16.54
Idaho...................................................           14.68
Illinois................................................           15.89
Indiana.................................................           15.89
Iowa....................................................           16.19
Kansas..................................................           16.47
Kentucky................................................           13.89
Louisiana...............................................           12.45
Maine...................................................           15.66
Maryland................................................           15.54
Massachusetts...........................................           15.66
Michigan................................................           15.37
Minnesota...............................................           15.37

[[Page 71283]]

 
Mississippi.............................................           12.45
Missouri................................................           16.19
Montana.................................................           14.68
Nebraska................................................           16.47
Nevada..................................................           15.58
New Hampshire...........................................           15.66
New Jersey..............................................           15.54
New Mexico..............................................           14.79
New York................................................           15.66
North Carolina..........................................           14.16
North Dakota............................................           16.47
Ohio....................................................           15.89
Oklahoma................................................           13.88
Oregon..................................................           17.41
Pennsylvania............................................           15.54
Rhode Island............................................           15.66
South Carolina..........................................           11.99
South Dakota............................................           16.47
Tennessee...............................................           13.89
Texas...................................................           13.88
Utah....................................................           15.58
Vermont.................................................           15.66
Virginia................................................           14.16
Washington..............................................           17.41
West Virginia...........................................           13.89
Wisconsin...............................................           15.37
Wyoming.................................................           14.68
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Authority: 20 CFR 655.120(c).

Angela Hanks,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, Labor.
[FR Doc. 2021-27119 Filed 12-14-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-FP-P