DOL Submits New Rule Impacting H-2A Worker Wages

In October, the Department of Labor (DOL) submitted a new rule to alter the methodology used to calculate the Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWRs), affecting the minimum hourly wage employers must pay temporary nonimmigrant workers under the H-2A visa classification. The Department is required to adjust the AEWRs annually based on labor statistics. Previously, DOL used the Department of Agriculture’s Farm Labor survey to make those alterations; under the new rule, it will now use state-level wage data obtained in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics instead. 

The new methodology accounts for the mandatory free housing that farmers provide to H-2A workers in its calculations, resulting in, according to DOL, $2.4 billion annually in savings for producers. The top five states for H-2A employment will likely experience 24 percent average wage relief, and the AEWR is expected to fall below the state minimum wage in 21 states. 

To learn more about the new rule, click here.