The Department of Labor (Department or DOL) issued an interim final rule (IFR) on October 2nd to amend its regulations governing the certification of agricultural labor or services to be performed by temporary foreign workers in H-2A nonimmigrant status (H-2A workers). Specifically, the Department is revising the methodology for determining the hourly Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWRs) for non-range occupations by using wage data reported for each U.S. state and territory by the Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey.
You can read the entire announcement at HERE. Moving forward, the threshold determination for assigning Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes and applicable skill-based AEWR will be based on the duties performed for the majority of the workdays during the contract period and qualifications contained in the employer’s job offer. Finally, to address differences in compensation between most U.S. workers and H-2A workers who receive employer-provided housing at no cost, the Department will implement a standard adjustment factor to the AEWR to account for this non-monetary compensation that employers will apply when compensating H-2A workers under temporary agricultural labor certifications.
TPI is tracking this development and will announce more details as they become available.
