The Department of Labor (DOL) has updated its methodology for determining annual adverse effect wage rates (AEWR) in the H-2A visa program.
The rule stabilizes the wage rate throughout 2022 by using the average hourly wages for field and livestock workers combined as reported by USDA’s Farm Labor Survey in November 2019 as the AEWRs for livestock and field workers.
Beginning in 2023, DOL will adjust the AEWRs by the percentage change in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ employment cost index for wages and salaries for the preceding 12-month period. For all other agricultural jobs, DOL will set and annually adjust the AEWRs using the average hourly wages for the occupational classification reported by the BLS Occupational Employment Statistics Survey program.
“The changes implemented in this rule also address stakeholder concerns about the potential for significant and unpredictable wage changes from year to year associated with DOL’s prior AEWR methodology, while ensuring better wage protections for United States workers similarly employed in higher-skilled agricultural jobs,” USDA said in a statement.
