[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 241 (Friday, December 16, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77142-77143]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-27332]


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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 2023

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 2023 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 to help ensure the Department meets its 
statutory obligation to certify that the employment of H-2A foreign 
workers will not have an adverse effect on the wages of agricultural 
workers in the United States (U.S.) similarly employed. In this notice, 
DOL announces updates of the AEWRs and the average AEWR, which is used 
to calculate adjustments to required bond amounts for H-2A Labor 
Contractors.

DATES: These rates are applicable January 1, 2023.

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 2023

    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 activity 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, whichever is highest, 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 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, 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). Similarly, when the AEWR is adjusted during a work 
contract and 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 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. Litigation followed 
the 2020 AEWR Final Rule's publication. On December 23, 2020--two days 
after the 2020 AEWR Final Rule went into effect--the court in United 
Farm Workers, et al. v. Dep't of Labor, et al., No. 20-cv-01690 issued 
an order preliminarily enjoining the Department from further 
implementing the 2020 AEWR Final Rule and ordering the Department to 
use the 2010 H-2A Final Rule methodology for establishing hourly 
AEWRs.\1\ On April 4, 2022, the court vacated the 2020 AEWR Final 
Rule.\2\ Accordingly, DOL has used the methodology set forth in the 
2010 H-2A Final Rule to determine the 2023 AEWRs.
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    \1\ 509 F. Supp. 3d 1225 (E.D. Cal. 2020).
    \2\ No. 20-cv-01690-DAD-BAK, 2022 WL 1004855 (E.D. Cal. April 4, 
2022).
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    The 2023 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 
23, 2022, Farm Labor Report. DOL's regulation, 20 CFR 655.120(b)(2), 
requires that the OFLC Administrator publish the USDA field and 
livestock worker (combined) wage data as AEWRs in a Federal Register 
Notice. Accordingly, the 2023 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--2023 Adverse Effect Wage Rates
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                      State 2023 AEWRs
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Alabama....................................................       $13.67
Arizona....................................................        15.62
Arkansas...................................................        13.67
California.................................................        18.65
Colorado...................................................        16.34
Connecticut................................................        16.95
Delaware...................................................        16.55
Florida....................................................        14.33
Georgia....................................................        13.67
Hawaii.....................................................        17.25
Idaho......................................................        15.68
Illinois...................................................        17.17
Indiana....................................................        17.17
Iowa.......................................................        17.54

[[Page 77143]]

 
Kansas.....................................................        17.33
Kentucky...................................................        14.26
Louisiana..................................................        13.67
Maine......................................................        16.95
Maryland...................................................        16.55
Massachusetts..............................................        16.95
Michigan...................................................        17.34
Minnesota..................................................        17.34
Mississippi................................................        13.67
Missouri...................................................        17.54
Montana....................................................        15.68
Nebraska...................................................        17.33
Nevada.....................................................        16.34
New Hampshire..............................................        16.95
New Jersey.................................................        16.55
New Mexico.................................................        15.62
New York...................................................        16.95
North Carolina.............................................        14.91
North Dakota...............................................        17.33
Ohio.......................................................        17.17
Oklahoma...................................................        14.87
Oregon.....................................................        17.97
Pennsylvania...............................................        16.55
Rhode Island...............................................        16.95
South Carolina.............................................        13.67
South Dakota...............................................        17.33
Tennessee..................................................        14.26
Texas......................................................        14.87
Utah.......................................................        16.34
Vermont....................................................        16.95
Virginia...................................................        14.91
Washington.................................................        17.97
West Virginia..............................................        14.26
Wisconsin..................................................        17.34
Wyoming....................................................        15.68
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    The AEWRs set forth in the table above are the AEWRs applicable to 
the SOC 45-2092 (Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and 
Greenhouse), published by the OFLC Administrator in accordance with 20 
CFR 655.120(b)(2). Accordingly, the simple average of these AEWRs 
constitutes the average AEWR. See 20 CFR 655.103(b) (definition of 
average AEWR). The 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 ($790.61/49 = $16.13). 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)(ii) is $16.13.
    Authority: 20 CFR 655.120(b)(2); 20 CFR 655.103(b).

Brent Parton,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, Labor.
[FR Doc. 2022-27332 Filed 12-15-22; 8:45 am]
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