Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 30 / Tuesday, February 13, 2024 / Notices 10101 

1H–2A employers must provide workers engaged 

in herding or the production of livestock on the 

range meals or food to prepare meals without 

charge or deposit charge. See 20 CFR 655.210(e). 

areas where more technical assistance is 

needed, and determine opportunities for 

greater program integration. Section 

239(c) of Title II, Chapter 2 of the Trade 

Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2271 

et seq.), authorizes this information 

collection. 

This information collection is subject 

to the PRA. A Federal agency generally 

cannot conduct or sponsor a collection 

of information, and the public is 

generally not required to respond to an 

information collection, unless it is 

approved by OMB under the PRA and 

displays a currently valid OMB Control 

Number. In addition, notwithstanding 

any other provisions of law, no person 

shall generally be subject to penalty for 

failing to comply with a collection of 

information that does not display a 

valid Control Number. See 5 CFR 

1320.5(a) and 1320.6. 

Interested parties are encouraged to 

provide comments to the contact shown 

in the ADDRESSES section. Comments 

must be written to receive 

consideration, and they will be 

summarized and included in the request 

for OMB approval of the final ICR. In 

order to help ensure appropriate 

consideration, comments should 

mention OMB Control No. 1205–0540. 

Submitted comments will also be a 

matter of public record for this ICR and 

posted on the internet, without 

redaction. DOL encourages commenters 

not to include personally identifiable 

information, confidential business data, 

or other sensitive statements/ 

information in any comments. 

DOL is particularly interested in 

comments that: 

• Evaluate whether the proposed 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of the Agency, including 

whether the information will have 

practical utility; 

• Evaluate the accuracy of the 

Agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

proposed collection of information, 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used; 

• Enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and 

• Minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on those who 

are to respond, including through the 

use of appropriate automated, 

electronic, mechanical, or other 

technological collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology, 

(e.g., permitting electronic submission 

of responses). 

Agency: DOL–ETA. 

Type of Review: Extention Without 

Changes. 

Title of Collection: Trade Adjustment 

Assistance Administrative Collection of 

States (TAAACS). 

Form: TAA State Survey. 

OMB Control Number: 1205–0540. 

Affected Public: State, Local, and 

Tribal Governments. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

52. 

Frequency: Annual. 

Total Estimated Annual Responses: 

52. 

Estimated Average Time per 

Response: 5 hours. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

Hours: 260 hours. 

Total Estimated Annual Other Cost 

Burden: $0. 

Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A). 

Brent Parton, 

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for 

Employment and Training, Labor. 

[FR Doc. 2024–02892 Filed 2–12–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–FN–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Employment and Training 

Administration 

Labor Certification Process for the 

Temporary Employment of H–2A and 

H–2B Foreign Workers in the United 

States: Annual Update to Allowable 

Monetary Charges for Agricultural 

Workers’ Meals and for Travel 

Subsistence Reimbursement, 

Including Lodging 

AGENCY: Employment and Training 

Administration, Department of Labor. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Employment and 

Training Administration (ETA) of the 

Department of Labor (DOL) is issuing 

this notice to announce the annual 

updates to allowable monetary charges 

employers of H–2A workers, in 

occupations other than herding or 

production of livestock on the range, 

may charge workers when the employer 

provides three meals per day. This 

notice also announces the maximum 

travel subsistence meal reimbursement a 

worker with receipts may claim under 

the H–2A and H–2B programs. Finally, 

this notice includes a reminder 

regarding employers’ obligations with 

respect to overnight lodging costs as 

part of required subsistence. 

DATES: These allowable charges become 

effective February 13, 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). Individuals with 

hearing or speech impairments may 

access the telephone numbers above via 

TTY/TDD by calling the toll-free Federal 

Information Relay Service at 1 (877) 

889–5627. 

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 or H–2B 

nonimmigrant temporary workers in the 

U.S. unless the petitioner has received 

an H–2A or H–2B labor certification 

from DOL. 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. 

See 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) and 

(b), 1184(c)(1), and 1188(a); 8 CFR 

214.2(h)(5) and (6); 20 CFR 655.1(a) and 

655.100. 

Allowable Meal Charge 

H–2A agricultural employers who are 

employing workers in occupations other 

than herding or production of livestock 

on the range must offer and provide 

workers three meals per day or free and 

convenient cooking facilities.1 See 20 

CFR 655.122(g). Where the employer 

provides the meals, the job offer must 

state the charge, if any, to the worker for 

such meals. See id. The amount of meal 

charges is governed by 20 CFR 655.173. 

By regulation, DOL has established 

the methodology for determining the 

maximum amount that H–2A 

agricultural employers may charge 

workers for providing them with three 

meals per day. See 20 CFR 655.173(a). 

This methodology allows for annual 

adjustments of the previous year’s 

maximum allowable charge based on 

the updated Consumer Price Index for 

All Urban Consumers for Food (CPI–U 

for Food), not seasonally adjusted. See 

id. The maximum amount employers 

may charge workers for providing meals 

is adjusted annually by the 12-month 

percentage change in the CPI–U for 

Food for the prior year (i.e., between 

December of the year just concluded 

and December of the prior year). See id. 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
10102 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 30 / Tuesday, February 13, 2024 / Notices 

2See Consumer Price Index—December 2023, 

published January 11, 2024, available at https:// 

www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/cpi_

01112024.pdf. 

3 In 2023, the maximum allowable charge under 

20 CFR 655.122(g) and 655.173 was $15.46 per day. 

See 88 FR 8478 (Feb. 9, 2023). 

The Office of Foreign Labor Certification 

(OFLC) Certifying Officer may also 

permit an employer to charge workers a 

higher amount for providing them with 

three meals a day if the higher amount 

is justified and sufficiently documented 

by the employer, as set forth in 20 CFR 

655.173(b). 

The percentage change in the CPI–U 

for Food between December 2022 and 

December 2023 was 2.7% percent.2

Thus, the annual update to the H–2A 

allowable meal charge is calculated by 

multiplying the current allowable meal 

charge ($15.46) by the 12-month 

percentage change in the CPI–U for 

Food between December 2022 and 

December 2023 ($15.46 × 1.027 = 

$15.88.3 Accordingly, the updated 

maximum allowable charge under 20 

CFR 655.122(g) and 655.173 is $15.88 

per day, and an employer is not 

permitted to charge a worker more than 

$15.88 per day unless the OFLC 

Certifying Officer approves a higher 

charge, as authorized under 20 CFR 

655.173(b). 

Reimbursement for Travel-Related 

Subsistence 

H–2B and H–2A employers must pay 

reasonable travel and subsistence costs, 

including the costs of meals and 

lodging, incurred by workers during 

travel to the place of employment from 

the place from which the worker has 

come to work for the employer and from 

the place of employment to the place 

from which the worker departed to work 

for the employer, as well as any such 

costs incurred by the worker incident to 

obtaining a visa authorizing entry to the 

United States for the purpose of H–2A 

or H–2B employment. See 20 CFR 

655.122(h)(1) and (2) and 655.20(j)(1)(i) 

and (ii). 

Specifically, an H–2A employer is 

responsible for providing, paying in 

advance, or reimbursing a worker for the 

reasonable costs incurred by the worker 

for transportation and daily travelrelated subsistence from the place from 

which the worker has come to work for 

the employer, if the worker completes 

50 percent of the work contract period. 

20 CFR 655.122(h)(1). In general, the 

employer must provide (or pay at the 

time of departure) the worker’s 

transportation and daily travel-related 

subsistence from the place of 

employment to the place from which 

the worker departed to work for the 

employer upon the worker completing 

the contract or being terminated without 

cause. 20 CFR 655.122(h)(2). 

Similarly, an H–2B employer is 

responsible for providing, paying in 

advance, or reimbursing a worker for 

transportation and daily travel-related 

subsistence from the place from which 

the worker has come to work for the 

employer, if the worker completes 50 

percent of the job order period. 20 CFR 

655.20(j)(1)(i). Upon the worker 

completing the job order period or being 

dismissed early (for any reason), the 

employer is generally responsible for 

providing (or paying at the time of 

departure) the worker’s cost of return 

transportation and daily travel-related 

subsistence from the place of 

employment to the place from which 

the worker departed to work for the 

employer. 20 CFR 655.20(j)(1)(ii). 

The amount of the daily subsistence 

must be at least the amount permitted 

in 20 CFR 655.173(a) (or the higher 

amount approved under 20 CFR 

655.173(b), if any). The maximum daily 

amount an employer is required to 

reimburse workers for travel-related 

lodging and subsistence, as evidenced 

with receipts, is equal to the standard 

Continental United States (CONUS) per 

diem rate, as established by the General 

Services Administration (GSA) at 41 

CFR part 301, formerly published in 

Appendix A and now found at https:// 

www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/perdiem-rates. See Maximum Per Diem 

Reimbursement Rates for the 

Continental United States, 88 FR 56629 

(Aug. 18, 2023). The standard CONUS 

meals and incidental expenses rate is 

$59.00 per day for 2024. See 88 FR 

56629, 56630. Workers who qualify for 

travel reimbursement are entitled to 

reimbursement for meals up to the 

standard CONUS meals and incidental 

expenses rate when they provide 

receipts. In determining the appropriate 

amount of reimbursement for meals for 

less than a full day, the employer may 

limit the meal expense reimbursement, 

with receipts, to 75 percent of the 

maximum reimbursement for meals, or 

$44.25, based on the GSA per diem 

schedule. See https://www.gsa.gov/ 

travel/plan-book/per-diem-rates. If a 

worker does not provide receipts, the 

employer is not obligated to reimburse 

above the minimum stated at 20 CFR 

655.173, as specified above. 

If transportation and lodging are not 

provided by the employer, the amount 

an employer must pay for transportation 

and, where required, lodging must be no 

less than (and is not required to be more 

than) the most economical and 

reasonable costs. The employer is 

responsible for those costs necessary for 

the worker to travel to the worksite if 

the worker completes 50 percent of the 

work contract period but is not 

responsible for unauthorized detours. 

The employer also is responsible for the 

costs of return transportation and 

subsistence, including lodging costs 

where necessary, as described above. 

These requirements apply equally to 

instances where the worker is traveling 

within the U.S. or internationally to the 

employer’s worksite. See 20 CFR 

655.122(h)(1) and (2) and 655.20(j)(1)(i) 

and (ii). 

For further information on when the 

employer is responsible for lodging 

costs, please see the DOL’s Meal 

Charges and Travel Subsistence, on 

OFLC’s website at https://www.dol.gov/ 

agencies/eta/foreign-labor/wages/mealstravel-subsistence, and H–2B Frequently 

Asked Questions on Job Offers and 

Employer Obligations, on OFLC’s 

website at https://www.dol.gov/ 

agencies/eta/foreign-labor/faqs/print. 

Authority: 20 CFR 655.173. 

Brent Parton, 

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for 

Employment and Training, Labor. 

[FR Doc. 2024–02893 Filed 2–12–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–FP–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Submission for OMB 

Review; General Inquiries to State 

Agency Contacts 

ACTION: Notice of availability; request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Labor 

(DOL) is submitting this Bureau of Labor 

Statistics (BLS)-sponsored information 

collection request (ICR) to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

review and approval in accordance with 

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(PRA). Public comments on the ICR are 

invited. 

DATES: The OMB will consider all 

written comments that the agency 

receives on or before March 14, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be sent 

within 30 days of publication of this 

notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/ 

PRAMain. Find this particular 

information collection by selecting 

‘‘Currently under 30-day Review—Open 

for Public Comments’’ or by using the 

search function. 

Comments are invited on: (1) whether 

the collection of information is 

necessary for the proper performance of 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1