[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 35 (Monday, February 23, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9482-9483]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-03596]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Labor Certification Process for the Temporary Employment of 
Aliens in Agriculture in the United States: 2015 Allowable Charges for 
Agricultural Workers' Meals and Travel Subsistence Reimbursement, 
Including Lodging

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Department of Labor.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the 
Department of Labor (Department) is issuing this Notice to announce (1) 
the allowable charges for 2015 that employers seeking H-2A workers may 
charge their workers when the employer provides three meals a day, and 
(2) the maximum travel subsistence meal reimbursement that a worker 
with receipts may claim in 2015. The Notice also includes a reminder 
regarding employers' obligations with respect to overnight lodging 
costs as part of required subsistence.

DATES: Effective Date: This notice is effective on February 23, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William W. Thompson, Acting 
Administrator, Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC), U.S. 
Department of Labor, Room C-4312, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20210. Telephone: 202-693-3010 (this is not a toll-free 
number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    The United States (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 agricultural 
workers in the U.S. unless the petitioner has received from the 
Department an H-2A labor certification. 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 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).

Allowable Meal Charge

    Among the minimum benefits and working conditions that the 
Department requires employers to offer their U.S. and H-2A workers are 
three meals a day or free and convenient cooking and kitchen 
facilities. 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. Id.
    The Department provides, at 20 CFR 655.173(a), the methodology for 
determining the maximum amounts that H-2A agricultural employers may 
charge their U.S. and foreign workers for providing them with three 
meals per day during employment. This methodology provides for annual 
adjustments of the previous year's maximum allowable charge based upon 
updated Consumer Price Index (CPI) data. The maximum charge allowed by 
20 CFR 655.173(a) is adjusted by the same percentage as the 12-month 
percent change in the CPI for all Urban Consumers for Food (CPI-U for 
Food).\1\ The 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).
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    \1\ Consumer Price Index--December 2014, published January 16, 
2015 at http://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet
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    The Department has determined that the percentage change between 
December of 2013 and December of 2014 for the CPI-U for Food was 2.4 
percent. Accordingly, the maximum an employer is allowed to charge 
under 20 CFR 655.122(g) shall be no more than $11.86 per day, unless 
the OFLC Certifying Officer approves a higher charge for a specific 
employer as authorized under 20 CFR 655.173(b).

Reimbursement for Daily Travel Subsistence

    The regulations at 20 CFR 655.122(h) establish that the minimum 
daily travel subsistence expense for meals, to which a worker is 
entitled to reimbursement, must be at least as much as the employer 
would charge for providing the worker with three meals a day during 
employment (if applicable), but in no event less than the amount

[[Page 9483]]

permitted under Sec.  655.173(a), i.e. the charge annually adjusted by 
the 12-month percentage change in CPI-U for Food.
    The Department determines the maximum meals component of the daily 
travel subsistence expense on the standard minimum 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 www.gsa.gov/perdiem. The CONUS minimum meals 
component remains $46.00 per day for 2015.\2\ Workers who qualify for 
travel reimbursement are entitled to reimbursement for meals up to the 
CONUS meal rate when they provide receipts. In determining the 
appropriate amount of reimbursement for meals for less than a full day, 
the employer may provide for meal expense reimbursement, with receipts, 
to 75 percent of the maximum reimbursement for meals of $34.50, as 
provided for in the GSA per diem schedule. If a worker has no receipts, 
the employer is not obligated to reimburse above the minimum stated at 
20 CFR 655.173(a) as specified above.
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    \2\ Maximum Per Diem Rates for the Continental United States 
(CONUS), 79 FR 48168 (August. 15, 2014); see also www.gsa.gov/perdiem.
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    The term ``subsistence'' includes both meals and lodging during 
travel to and from the worksite. Therefore, an employer is responsible 
for providing (either paying in advance or reimbursing a worker) the 
reasonable costs of transportation and daily subsistence between the 
employer's worksite and the place from which the worker comes to work 
for the employer, if the worker completes 50 percent of the work 
contract period. Upon the worker completing the contract, the employer 
is obligated to pay the return costs. In those instances where a worker 
must travel to obtain a visa so that the worker may enter the U.S. to 
come to work for the employer, the employer must pay for the 
transportation and daily subsistence costs of that part of the travel 
as well.
    As the Department has stated before, we interpret the regulation to 
require the employer to assume responsibility for the reasonable costs 
associated with the worker's travel, including transportation, food, 
and, in those instances where it is necessary, lodging. The minimum and 
maximum daily travel meal reimbursement amounts are established 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, and if the worker completes the 
contract the employer is further responsible for return transportation 
and subsistence costs, including lodging costs where necessary. This 
policy also applies to instances where the worker is traveling within 
the U.S. to the employer's worksite.
    For further information on when the employer is responsible for 
transportation, lodging and meal costs, please see the Department's H-
2A Frequently Asked Questions on Travel and Daily Subsistence, which 
may found on the OFLC Web site: http://www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/.

Portia Wu,
Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training Administration.
[FR Doc. 2015-03596 Filed 2-20-15; 8:45 am]
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