Document Headings

                    Document headings vary by document type but may contain                    the following:                  
                -                       the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document                    
                -                       the number of the CFR title and the number of each part                      the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly                      related to                    
                -                       the agency docket number / agency internal file number                    
                -                       the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in                      the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory                      Actions                    

                    See the                                          Document Drafting Handbook                                        for more details.                  

###### Department of Labor

###### Employment and Training Administration

# AGENCY:

Employment and Training Administration, Department of Labor.

# ACTION:

Notice.

# 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 × 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.                

*Authority:*20 CFR 655.211(b).                

Lenita Jacobs-Simmons,

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, Labor.

# Footnotes

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.                    
        Back to Citation      

[FR Doc. 2023-27434 Filed 12-13-23; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510-FP-P