Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 246 / Wednesday, December 26, 2018 / Notices 66307 

1The regulation at 20 CFR 655.211(c)(2) states 

that the monthly AEWR is calculated based on the 

ECI for wages and salaries ‘‘for the preceding 

October—October period.’’ This regulatory language 

was intended to identify the Bureau of Labor 

Statistics’ October publication of ECI for wages and 

salaries, which presents data for the September— 

September period. Accordingly, the most recent 12- 

month change in the ECI for private sector workers 

published on October 31, 2018, by the Bureau of 

Labor Statistics was used for establishing the 

monthly AEWR under the regulations. See https:// 

www.bls.gov/news.release/eci.htm. The ECI for 

private sector workers was used rather than the ECI 

for all civilian workers given the characteristics of 

the H–2A herder workforce. 

TABLE—2019 ADVERSE EFFECT WAGE

RATES—Continued 

State 2019 AEWRs 

Ohio ...................................... 13.26 

Oklahoma ............................. 12.23 

Oregon .................................. 15.03 

Pennsylvania ........................ 13.15 

Rhode Island ........................ 13.25 

South Carolina ...................... 11.13 

South Dakota ........................ 14.38 

Tennessee ............................ 11.63 

Texas .................................... 12.23 

Utah ...................................... 13.13 

Vermont ................................ 13.25 

Virginia .................................. 12.25 

Washington ........................... 15.03 

West Virginia ........................ 11.63 

Wisconsin ............................. 13.54 

Wyoming ............................... 13.48 

Pursuant to the H–2A regulations at 

20 CFR 655.173, the Department will 

publish a separate Federal Register 

Notice in early 2019 to announce: (1) 

The allowable charges for 2019 that 

employers seeking H–2A workers may 

charge their workers for providing them 

three meals a day; and (2) the maximum 

travel subsistence reimbursement that a 

worker with receipts may claim in 2019. 

Also in a separate Federal Register 

Notice, the Department will publish the 

monthly AEWR for workers engaged to 

perform herding or production of 

livestock on the range for 2019. 

Molly E. Conway, 

Acting Assistant Secretary for the 

Employment and Training Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2018–28030 Filed 12–20–18; 11:15 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–FP–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Employment and Training 

Administration 

Labor Certification Process for the 

Temporary Employment of Aliens in 

Agriculture in the United States: 

Adverse Effect Wage Rate for Range 

Occupations in 2019 

AGENCY: Employment and Training 

Administration (ETA), Labor. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Employment and 

Training Administration (ETA) of the 

Department of Labor (Department) is 

issuing this notice to announce the 2019 

Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) for 

the employment of temporary or 

seasonal nonimmigrant foreign workers 

(H–2A workers) to perform herding or 

production of livestock on the range. 

AEWRs are the minimum wage rates 

the Department has determined must be 

offered and paid by employers to H–2A 

workers and workers in corresponding 

employment so that the wages and 

working conditions of similarly 

employed workers in the United States 

(U.S.) will not be adversely affected. In 

this notice, the Department announces 

the annual update of the AEWR for 

workers engaged in the herding or 

production of livestock on the range, as 

required by the methodology 

established in the Temporary 

Agricultural Employment of H–2A 

Foreign Workers in the Herding or 

Production of Livestock on the Range in 

the United States, 80 FR 62958, 63067– 

63068 (Oct. 16, 2015); 20 CFR 655.211. 

DATES: The rate is applicable January 1, 

2019. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Thomas M. Dowd, Deputy Assistant 

Secretary, Employment and Training 

Administration, Department of Labor, 

Box #12–200, 200 Constitution Ave. 

NW, Washington, DC 20210, Telephone: 

(202) 693–2772 (this is not a toll-free 

number). Individuals with hearing or 

speech impairments may access the 

telephone number above via TTY by 

calling the toll-free Federal Information 

Relay Service at 1–877–889–5627 (TTY/ 

TDD). 

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 United States 

unless the petitioner has received an H– 

2A labor certification from the 

Department. 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. 

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 Rate for 2019 

The Department’s H–2A regulations 

covering the herding or production of 

livestock on the range (H–2A Herder 

Rule) at 20 CFR 655.210(g) and 

655.211(a)(1) provide that employers 

must offer, advertise in recruitment, and 

pay each worker employed under 20 

CFR 655.200–655.235 a wage that is at 

least the highest of: (1) The monthly 

AEWR, (2) the agreed-upon collective 

bargaining wage, or (3) the applicable 

minimum wage imposed by Federal or 

State law or judicial action. Further, 

when the monthly AEWR is adjusted 

during a work contract and is higher 

than both the agreed-upon collective 

bargaining wage and the applicable 

minimum wage imposed by Federal or 

State law or judicial action in effect at 

the time the work is performed, the 

employer must pay that adjusted 

monthly AEWR upon publication by the 

Department in the Federal Register. 20 

CFR 655.211(a)(2). 

As provided in 20 CFR 655.211(c)(2) 

of the H–2A Herder Rule, the monthly 

AEWR for range occupations in all 

states for a calendar year is based on the 

monthly AEWR for the previous 

calendar year, adjusted by the 

Employment Cost Index (ECI) for wages 

and salaries published by the Bureau of 

Labor Statistics for the preceding annual 

period. In setting the AEWR for 2019, 

ETA applied the required ECI 

adjustment of 3.1 percent to the 

monthly AEWR for range occupations in 

effect for 2018, resulting in a monthly 

wage of $1,633.33. The 12-month 

change in the ECI for wages and salaries 

of private industry workers between 

September 2017 and September 2018 

was 3.1 percent.1 Thus, the national 

monthly AEWR rate for all range 

occupations in the H–2A program in 

2019 is calculated by multiplying the 

monthly AEWR for calendar year 2018 

by the October 2018 ECI adjustment 

($1,584.22 × 1.031 = 1,633.33) or 

$1,633.33. Accordingly, any employer 

certified or seeking certification for 

range workers must pay each worker a 

wage that is at least the highest of the 

monthly AEWR of $1,633.33, the 

agreed-upon collective bargaining wage, 

or the applicable minimum wage 

imposed by Federal or State legislation 

or judicial action at the time work is 

performed on or after the effective date 

of this notice. 

Molly E. Conway, 

Acting Assistant Secretary for the 

Employment and Training Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2018–28031 Filed 12–20–18; 11:15 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–FP–P 


amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1