[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 239 (Thursday, December 14, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 86677-86679]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-27435]


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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 2024

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 2024 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, advertised in recruitment, 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. The AEWRs established in this 
notice are applicable to H-2A job opportunities that are both: 
classified in one (or more) of the six Standard Occupational 
Classification (SOC) codes comprising the field and livestock workers 
(combined) category, and located in States or regions, or equivalent 
districts or territories, in which the United States Department of 
Agriculture's (USDA) Farm Labor Report (better known as the Farm Labor 
Survey, or FLS) reports wages. In this notice, DOL also announces an 
update to the average AEWR, which is used to calculate adjustments to 
required bond amounts for H-2A Labor Contractors.

DATES: These rates are effective January 1, 2024.

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

[[Page 86678]]

will not approve an employer's petition for the admission of H-2A 
nonimmigrant temporary and seasonal agricultural workers into 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 for which the employer desires to hire temporary foreign 
workers; 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.

FLS-Based AEWR Updates

    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 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, 
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 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). When the AEWR is 
adjusted during a work contract and is 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 February 28, 2023, 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, 88 FR 
12760 (Feb. 28, 2023), to establish a new methodology for setting 
hourly AEWRs, effective March 30, 2023. Pursuant to this new rule, 
while most AEWRs will continue to be based, as they have been since 
1987, on the USDA FLS, AEWRs based on DOL's Bureau of Labor Statistics 
(BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey will 
apply to H-2A job opportunities that are: (1) classified in SOC codes 
other than the six SOC codes comprising the field and livestock workers 
(combined) category, and/or (2) located in States or regions, or 
equivalent districts or territories, for which the USDA FLS does not 
report a wage.\1\
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    \1\ In the event an employer's job opportunity requires the 
performance of agricultural labor or services that are not 
encompassed in a single SOC code's description and tasks, the 
applicable AEWR will be the highest AEWR for all applicable SOCs. 
See 20 CFR 655.120(b)(5).
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    The new final rule requires the OFLC Administrator to publish a 
Federal Register Notice at least once in each calendar year to 
establish each AEWR. See 20 CFR 655.120(b)(2). The OFLC Administrator 
provides this notice by publishing two separate announcements in the 
Federal Register, one to update the non-range AEWRs based on the wage 
data reported by the USDA's FLS, effective on or about January 1, and a 
second to update the non-range AEWRs based on data reported by the BLS 
OEWS survey, effective on or about July 1.\2\
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    \2\ See 88 FR at 12775; see also Labor Certification Process for 
the Temporary Employment of Foreign Workers in Agriculture in the 
United States: Adverse Effect Wage Rate Updates for Non-Range 
Occupations, 88 FR 39482 (Jun. 16, 2023).
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    The 2024 AEWRs for all non-range agricultural employment classified 
in the field and livestock workers (combined) category are the annual 
average hourly gross wage rates for field and livestock workers 
(combined) in the State or region as published by the USDA in the 
November 2023 FLS.\3\ Accordingly, the 2024 AEWRs to be offered, 
advertised in recruitment, and 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:
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    \3\ See U.S. Dep't of Agriculture, Nat'l Agricultural Statistics 
Service, Farm Labor: Annual Average Gross Wage Rates by Type of 
Worker--Regions and United States: 2022 and 2023 (Nov. 22, 2023), 
pp. 25-26, available at https://downloads.usda.library.cornell.edu/usda-esmis/files/x920fw89s/v405tw18s/dn39zk84n/fmla1123.pdf.

                  Table--2024 Adverse Effect Wage Rates
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                      State 2024 AEWRs
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Alabama....................................................       $14.68
Arizona....................................................        16.32
Arkansas...................................................        14.53
California.................................................        19.75
Colorado...................................................        16.63
Connecticut................................................        17.80
Delaware...................................................        17.20
Florida....................................................        14.77
Georgia....................................................        14.68
Hawaii.....................................................        18.74
Idaho......................................................        16.54
Illinois...................................................        18.18
Indiana....................................................        18.18
Iowa.......................................................        17.79
Kansas.....................................................        18.32
Kentucky...................................................        15.14
Louisiana..................................................        14.53
Maine......................................................        17.80
Maryland...................................................        17.20
Massachusetts..............................................        17.80
Michigan...................................................        18.50
Minnesota..................................................        18.50
Mississippi................................................        14.53
Missouri...................................................        17.79
Montana....................................................        16.54
Nebraska...................................................        18.32
Nevada.....................................................        16.63
New Hampshire..............................................        17.80
New Jersey.................................................        17.20
New Mexico.................................................        16.32
New York...................................................        17.80
North Carolina.............................................        15.81
North Dakota...............................................        18.32
Ohio.......................................................        18.18
Oklahoma...................................................        15.55
Oregon.....................................................        19.25
Pennsylvania...............................................        17.20
Rhode Island...............................................        17.80
South Carolina.............................................        14.68
South Dakota...............................................        18.32
Tennessee..................................................        15.14
Texas......................................................        15.55
Utah.......................................................        16.63
Vermont....................................................        17.80
Virginia...................................................        15.81
Washington.................................................        19.25
West Virginia..............................................        15.14
Wisconsin..................................................        18.50
Wyoming....................................................        16.54
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    The AEWRs set forth in the table above are the AEWRs applicable to 
the following SOC titles and codes: Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, 
Nursery, and Greenhouse (45-2092), Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and 
Aquacultural Animals (45-2093); Agricultural Equipment Operators (45-
2091); Packers and Packagers, Hand (53-7064); Graders and Sorters, 
Agricultural Products (45-2041); and All Other Agricultural Workers 
(45-2099). Accordingly, the simple average of these AEWRs constitutes 
the average AEWR, which is used to calculate the bond amounts required 
for H-2A Labor Contractors. See 20 CFR 655.103(b) (definition of 
average AEWR), 655.132(c)(2)(ii) (use of average AEWR in calculating 
bond requirements). The

[[Page 86679]]

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 ($831.98/49 = $16.98). 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) is $16.98.
    Authority: 20 CFR 655.120(b)(2); 20 CFR 655.103(b).

Lenita Jacobs-Simmons,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, Labor.
[FR Doc. 2023-27435 Filed 12-13-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-FP-P