[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 241 (Monday, December 16, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 101628-101630]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-29549]
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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
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 updates to the
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
classified: in six Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes
comprising the field and livestock workers (combined) category, and in
the field and livestock workers (combined) occupational category that
are 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 December 16, 2024. However, for
entities and states subject to the court order in Kansas et. al. v.
U.S. Department of Labor, these rates are effective December 30, 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). For persons with a hearing or speech disability who need
assistance to use the telephone system, please dial 711 to access
telecommunications relay services.
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. DOL issues such labor
certification when it
[[Page 101629]]
determines 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.
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 the various wage sources listed in Sec.
655.120(a), including the AEWR. Further, when the AEWR is updated
during a work contract, the employer must pay at least that updated
AEWR upon the effective date of the new AEWR, if the updated AEWR is
higher than the highest of the previous AEWR, a prevailing wage 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. See 20 CFR 655.120(b)(3).
Similarly, when the AEWR is updated 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).
Pursuant to the 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), 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 classified: (1) in SOC codes other than the six
SOC codes comprising the field and livestock workers (combined)
category, and (2) in the field and livestock workers (combined)
occupational category that are 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 final rule, noted above, requires the OFLC Administrator to
publish a Federal Register Notice at least once in each calendar year
to establish each set of AEWRs. 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 and a second to
update the non-range AEWRs based on data reported by the BLS OEWS
survey. See 88 FR at 12775.
The updated AEWRs for all non-range agricultural employment
classified in the field and livestock workers (combined) category, 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 USDA in
the November 20, 2024, FLS. 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 updated 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--Adverse Effect Wage Rates for Field and Livestock Workers
[Combined]
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State AEWRs
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Alabama...................................................... $16.08
Arizona...................................................... 17.04
Arkansas..................................................... 14.83
California................................................... 19.97
Colorado..................................................... 17.84
Connecticut.................................................. 18.83
Delaware..................................................... 17.96
Florida...................................................... 16.23
Georgia...................................................... 16.08
Hawaii....................................................... 20.08
Idaho........................................................ 16.83
Illinois..................................................... 19.57
Indiana...................................................... 19.57
Iowa......................................................... 18.65
Kansas....................................................... 19.21
Kentucky..................................................... 15.87
Louisiana.................................................... 14.83
Maine........................................................ 18.83
Maryland..................................................... 17.96
Massachusetts................................................ 18.83
Michigan..................................................... 18.15
Minnesota.................................................... 18.15
Mississippi.................................................. 14.83
Missouri..................................................... 18.65
Montana...................................................... 16.83
Nebraska..................................................... 19.21
Nevada....................................................... 17.84
New Hampshire................................................ 18.83
New Jersey................................................... 17.96
New Mexico................................................... 17.04
New York..................................................... 18.83
North Carolina............................................... 16.16
North Dakota................................................. 19.21
Ohio......................................................... 19.57
Oklahoma..................................................... 15.79
Oregon....................................................... 19.82
Pennsylvania................................................. 17.96
Rhode Island................................................. 18.83
South Carolina............................................... 16.08
South Dakota................................................. 19.21
Tennessee.................................................... 15.87
Texas........................................................ 15.79
Utah......................................................... 17.84
Vermont...................................................... 18.83
Virginia..................................................... 16.16
Washington................................................... 19.82
West Virginia................................................ 15.87
Wisconsin.................................................... 18.15
Wyoming...................................................... 16.83
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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). These AEWRs are 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 ($869.20/49 =
$17.74). 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 $17.74.
Delayed Effective Date With Respect to Certain States and Entities
On April 29, 2024, DOL published the final rule, Improving
Protections for Workers in Temporary Agricultural Employment in the
United States, 89 FR 33898 (Apr. 29, 2024) (``Farmworker Protection
Rule''). The Farmworker Protection Rule amended the regulation at 20
CFR 655.120(b)(2) to state that
[[Page 101630]]
``[t]he updated AEWR will be effective as of the date of publication of
the notice in the Federal Register.'' On August 26, 2024, the United
States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia issued a
preliminary injunction in the case Kansas, et al. v. U.S. Department of
Labor, No. 2:24-cv-00076-LGW-BWC (S.D. Ga., Aug. 26, 2024)
(``Kansas''), prohibiting DOL from enforcing the Farmworker Protection
Rule in certain states and with respect to certain entities. The
preliminary injunction specifically prohibits DOL from enforcing the
Farmworker Protection Rule in the states of Arkansas, Florida, Georgia,
Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska,
North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia,
and against Miles Berry Farm and members of the Georgia Fruit and
Vegetable Growers Association as of August 26, 2024.\2\
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\2\ Neither the preliminary injunction issued in Barton, et al.
v. U.S. Department of Labor, et al., No. 5:24-cv-249-DCR (E.D. Ky.,
Nov. 25, 2024), nor the Section 705 stay issued in International
Fresh Produce Association, et al. v. U.S. Department of Labor, et
al., No. 1:24-cv-309-HSO-BWR (S.D. Miss., Nov. 25, 2024) affect
DOL's implementation or enforcement of 20 CFR 655.120(b)(2) as to
the parties or entities subject to those orders.
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Therefore, for work performed at places of employment located in
Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana,
Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, as well as for work performed by Miles
Berry Farm and members of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers
Association as of August 26, 2024, the effective date of this Federal
Register Notice is December 30, 2024. As an example, for work performed
at places of employment located in Missouri, a state subject to the
Kansas Order, this Federal Register Notice would be effective on
December 30, 2024, but for work performed at places of employment
located in Illinois, a state not subject to the Kansas Order, this
Federal Register Notice would be effective December 16, 2024.
Authority: 20 CFR 655.120(b)(2); 20 CFR 655.103(b).
Jos[eacute] Javier Rodr[iacute]guez,
Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, Labor.
[FR Doc. 2024-29549 Filed 12-11-24; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 4510-FP-P