[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 239 (Thursday, December 14, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 86679]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-27434]


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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 Rate for 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 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 
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. In this 
notice, DOL 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 previously established in 2015.

DATES: The rate is effective January 1, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Pasternak, Administrator, Office 
of Foreign Labor Certification, Employment and Training Administration, 
Department of Labor, N-5311, 200 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 
20210, Telephone: (202) 693-8200 (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 U.S. unless the petitioner has 
received an H-2A labor certification from DOL. The H-2A 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.

Adverse Effect Wage Rate for 2024

    DOL's H-2A regulations covering the herding or production of 
livestock on the range, published in the Federal Register as 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 (Oct. 16, 2015), as amended by Adjudication of Temporary 
and Seasonal Need for Herding and Production of Livestock on the Range 
Applications Under the H-2A Program, 86 FR 71373 (Dec. 16, 2021), 
provide that employers must offer, advertise in recruitment, and pay 
each worker employed under 20 CFR 655.200 through 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. See 20 CFR 655.210(g); 
655.211(a)(1). 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 the effective date 
published by DOL in the Federal Register. See 20 CFR 655.211(a)(2).
    As provided in 20 CFR 655.211(c)(2), the monthly AEWR for range 
occupations in all States for a calendar year is based on the monthly 
AEWR for the previous calendar year ($1,901.21 in 2023), adjusted by 
the Employment Cost Index (ECI) for wages and salaries published by the 
Bureau of Labor Statistics for the preceding October--October period. 
The 12-month change in the ECI for wages and salaries of private 
industry workers between September 2022 and September 2023 was 4.5 
percent, resulting in a monthly AEWR for range occupations in calendar 
year 2024 of $1,986.76.\1\ The national monthly AEWR rate for all range 
occupations in the H-2A program in 2024 is calculated by multiplying 
the monthly AEWR for calendar year 2023 by the October 2023 ECI 
adjustment ($1,901.21 x 1.045 = $1,986.76) or $1,986.76. Accordingly, 
any employer certified or seeking certification for range workers must 
offer, advertise in recruitment, and pay each worker a wage that is at 
least the highest of the monthly AEWR of $1,986.76, the agreed-upon 
collective bargaining wage, or the applicable minimum wage imposed by 
Federal or State law or judicial action at the time work is performed 
on or after the effective date of this notice.
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    \1\ The 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' 
(BLS) October publication of ECI for wages and salaries, which 
presents data for the September-to-September period. Accordingly, 
the most recent 12-month change in the ECI for private sector 
workers published on October 31, 2023, by BLS was used for 
establishing the monthly AEWR under the regulations. See https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/eci_10312023.pdf. 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.
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    Authority: 20 CFR 655.211(b).

Lenita Jacobs-Simmons,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, Labor.
[FR Doc. 2023-27434 Filed 12-13-23; 8:45 am]
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