[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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