Labor Certification Process for the Temporary Employment of Aliens in Agriculture and Logging in the United States: 2005 Adverse Effect Wage Rates, Allowable Charges for Agricultural and Logging Workers' Meals, and Maximum Travel Subsistence Reimbursement, 10152-10153 [E5-824]
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10152
Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 40 / Wednesday, March 2, 2005 / Notices
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training
Administration
Labor Certification Process for the
Temporary Employment of Aliens in
Agriculture and Logging in the United
States: 2005 Adverse Effect Wage
Rates, Allowable Charges for
Agricultural and Logging Workers’
Meals, and Maximum Travel
Subsistence Reimbursement
Employment and Training
Administration, Department of Labor.
ACTION: Notice of Adverse Effect Wage
Rates (AEWRs), allowable charges for
meals, and maximum travel subsistence
reimbursement for 2005.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The Employment and
Training Administration (ETA) of the
Department of Labor (Department or
DOL) is issuing this notice to announce:
the 2005 AEWRS for employers seeking
to employ temporary or seasonal
nonimmigrant alien workers to perform
agricultural labor or services (H–2A
workers) or logging (H–2 logging
workers); the allowable charges for 2005
that employers seeking H–2A workers
and H–2 logging workers may levy upon
their workers when three meals a day
are provided by the employer; and the
maximum travel subsistence
reimbursement which a worker with
receipts may claim in 2005.
AEWRs are the minimum wage rates
the Department has determined must be
offered and paid to U.S. and alien
workers by employers of H–2A workers
or H–2 logging workers. AEWRs are
established to prevent the employment
of these aliens from adversely affecting
wages of similarly employed U.S.
workers. The Department announces the
AEWRs for 2005.
The Department also announces the
new rates for 2005 which covered
agricultural and logging employers may
charge their workers for three daily
meals.
Under specified conditions, workers
are entitled to reimbursement for travel
subsistence expenses. The minimum
reimbursement is the charge for three
daily meals as noted above. The
Department also announces the current
maximum reimbursement that may be
claimed in 2005 by workers with
receipts.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
March 2, 2005.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
William Carlson, Chief, Division of
Foreign Labor Certification, U.S.
Department of Labor, Room C–4312, 200
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington,
VerDate jul<14>2003
15:00 Mar 01, 2005
Jkt 205001
DC 20210. Telephone: (202) 693–3010
(this is not a toll-free number).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services
may not approve an employer’s petition
for admission of H–2A workers or H–2
logging workers in the United States
unless the petitioner has received from
DOL an H–2A or H–2 labor certification,
as appropriate. Approved labor
certifications attest: (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 alien 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), and 1188.
DOL’s regulations for the H–2A and
H–2 program require covered employers
to offer and pay their U.S., H–2A, and
H–2 workers no less than the applicable
hourly AEWR in effect at the time the
work is performed. 20 CFR 655.102(b)(9)
and 655.202(b)(9). See also 20 CFR
655.107 and 655.207. Reference should
be made to the preamble of the final
rule, 54 FR 28037 (July 5, 1989), which
explains in great depth the purpose and
history of AEWRs, DOL’s discretion in
setting AEWRs, and the AEWR
computation methodology at 20 CFR
655.107(a). See also 52 FR 20496,
20502–20505 (June 1, 1987).
A. Adverse Effect Wage Rates for 2005
AEWRs are the minimum wage rates
which DOL has determined must be
offered and paid to U.S. and alien
workers by employers of H–2A workers
or H–2 logging workers. DOL
emphasizes, however, that employers of
H–2A workers must pay the highest of
(i) the AEWR in effect at the time the
work is performed, (ii) the applicable
prevailing wage, or (iii) the statutory
minimum wage, as specified in the
regulations. 20 CFR 655.102(b)(9).
Employers of H–2 logging workers must
pay at least the AEWR. 20 CFR
655.202(b)(9).
Except as otherwise provided in 20
CFR part 655, subpart B, the regionwide AEWR for all agricultural
employment (except those occupations
deemed inappropriate under the special
circumstance provisions of 20 CFR
655.93) for which temporary H–2A
certification is being sought, is equal to
the annual weighted average hourly
wage rate for field and livestock workers
(combined) for the region as published
annually by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA). 20 CFR 655.107(a).
USDA does not provide data on Alaska.
PO 00000
Frm 00082
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
20 CFR 655.107(a) requires the
Assistant Secretary, Employment and
Training Administration, to publish
USDA field and livestock worker
(combined) wage data as AEWRs in a
Federal Register notice. Accordingly,
the 2005 AEWRs for agricultural work
performed by U.S. and H–2A workers
on or after the effective date of this
notice are set forth in the table below:
2005 ADVERSE EFFECT WAGE RATES
State
2005
AEWR
Alabama ......................................
Arizona ........................................
Arkansas .....................................
California .....................................
Colorado .....................................
Connecticut .................................
Delaware .....................................
Florida .........................................
Georgia .......................................
Hawaii .........................................
Idah .............................................
Illinois ..........................................
Indiana ........................................
Iowa ............................................
Kansas ........................................
Kentucky .....................................
Louisiana ....................................
Maine ..........................................
Maryland .....................................
Massachusetts ............................
Michigan .....................................
Minnesota ...................................
Mississippi ..................................
Missouri ......................................
Montana ......................................
Nebraska ....................................
Nevada .......................................
New Hampshire ..........................
New Jersey .................................
New Mexico ................................
New York ....................................
North Carolina ............................
North Dakota ..............................
Ohio ............................................
Oklahoma ...................................
Oregon ........................................
Pennsylvania ..............................
Rhode Island ..............................
South Carolina ............................
South Dakota ..............................
Tennessee ..................................
Texas ..........................................
Utah ............................................
Vermont ......................................
Virginia ........................................
Washington .................................
West Virginia ..............................
Wisconsin ...................................
Wyoming .....................................
$8.07
7.63
7.80
8.56
8.93
9.05
8.48
8.07
8.07
9.75
8.20
9.20
9.20
8.95
9.00
8.17
7.80
9.05
8.48
9.05
9.18
9.18
7.80
8.95
8.20
9.00
8.93
9.05
8.48
7.63
9.05
8.24
9.00
9.20
7.89
9.03
8.48
9.05
8.07
9.00
8.17
7.89
8.93
9.05
8.24
9.03
8.17
9.18
8.20
The AEWRs for all logging
employment shall be the prevailing
wage rates in the area of intended
employment. 20 CFR 655.207(a).
B. Allowable Meal Charges
Among the minimum benefits and
working conditions which DOL requires
E:\FR\FM\02MRN1.SGM
02MRN1
Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 40 / Wednesday, March 2, 2005 / Notices
employers to offer their U.S., H–2A, and
H–2 logging workers are three meals a
day or free and convenient cooking and
kitchen facilities. 20 CFR 655.102(b)(4)
and 655.202(b)(4). Where the employer
provides meals, the job offer must state
the charge, if any, to the worker for
meals.
DOL has published at 20 CFR
655.102(b)(4) and 655.111(a) the
methodology for determining the
maximum amounts that covered H–2A
agricultural employers may charge their
U.S. and foreign workers for meals. The
same methodology is applied at 20 CFR
655.202(b)(4) and 655.211(a) to covered
H–2 logging employers. These rules
provide for annual adjustments of the
previous year’s allowable charges based
upon Consumer Price Index (CPI) data.
Each year the maximum charges
allowed by 20 CFR 655.102(b)(4) and
655.202(b)(4) are adjusted by the same
percentage as the twelve-month percent
change in the CPI for all Urban
Consumers for Food (CPI–U for Food)
between December of the year just
concluded and December of the year
prior to that. ETA may permit an
employer to charge workers no more
than the higher maximum amount set
forth in 20 CFR 655.111(a) and
655.211(a), as applicable, for providing
them with three meals a day, if justified
and sufficiently documented. Each year,
the higher maximum amounts permitted
by 20 CFR 655.111(a) and 655.211(a) are
changed by the same percentage as the
twelve-month percent change in the
CPI–U for Food between December of
the year just concluded and December
of the year prior to that. The program’s
regulations require DOL to make the
annual adjustments and to publish a
notice in the Federal Register each
calendar year, announcing annual
adjustments in allowable charges that
may be made by covered agricultural
and logging employers for providing
three meals daily to their U.S. and alien
workers. The 2004 rates were published
in the Federal Register notice, 69 FR
10063, (March 3, 2004).
DOL has determined the percentage
change between December of 2003 and
December of 2004 for the CPI–U for
Food was 3.4 percent. Accordingly, the
maximum allowable charges under 20
CFR 655.102(b)(4), 655.202(b)(4),
655.111, and 655.211 were adjusted
using this percentage change, and the
new permissible charges for 2005 are as
follows: (1) Charges under 20 CFR
655.102(b)(4) and 655.202(b)(4) shall be
no more than $9.08 per day, unless ETA
has approved a higher charge pursuant
to 20 CFR 655.111 or 655.211; (2)
charges under 20 CFR 655.111 and
655.211 shall be no more than $11.25
VerDate jul<14>2003
15:00 Mar 01, 2005
Jkt 205001
per day, if the employer justifies the
charge and submits to ETA the
documentation required to support the
higher charge.
C. Maximum Travel Subsistence
Expense
The regulations at 20 CFR
655.102(b)(5) establish that the
minimum daily subsistence expense
related to travel expenses, for which a
worker is entitled to reimbursement, is
equivalent to the employer’s daily
charge for three meals or, if the
employer makes no charge, the amount
permitted under 20 CFR 655.104(b)(4).
The regulation is silent about the
maximum amount to which a qualifying
worker is entitled.
The Department, in Field
Memorandum 42–94, established the
maximum meals component of the
standard continental United States
(CONUS) per diem rate established by
the General Services Administration
(GSA) and published at 41 CFR part
301. The CONUS meal component is
now $31.00 per day. Workers who
qualify for travel reimbursement are
entitled to reimbursement up to the
CONUS meal rate for related subsistence
when they provide receipts. In
determining the appropriate amount of
subsistence reimbursement, the
employer may use the GSA system
under which a traveler qualifies for
meal expense reimbursement per
quarter of a day. Thus, a worker whose
travel occurred during two quarters of a
day is entitled, with receipts, to a
maximum reimbursement of $15.50. If a
worker has no receipts, the employer is
not obligated to reimburse above the
minimum stated at 20 CFR 655.102(b)(4)
as specified above.
Signed in Washington, DC, this 22nd day
of February, 2005.
Emily Stover DeRocco,
Assistant Secretary, Employment and
Training Administration.
[FR Doc. E5–824 Filed 3–1–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510–30–P
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health
Administration
Maritime Advisory Committee for
Occupational Safety and Health; Notice
of Meeting
Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA), Labor.
ACTION: Maritime Advisory Committee
for Occupational Safety and Health;
Notice of meeting.
AGENCY:
PO 00000
Frm 00083
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
10153
SUMMARY: The Maritime Advisory
Committee for Occupational Safety and
Health (MACOSH) was established to
advise the Assistant Secretary of Labor
for OSHA on issues relating to
occupational safety and health in the
maritime industries. The purpose of this
Federal Register notice is to announce
the March 2005 meeting of the
committee.
DATES: The full committee will meet
from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on March 31,
2005. The MACOSH work groups
(shipyard, longshoring, container safety,
traffic safety, safety culture and health)
will meet from 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. on
March 30, 2005.
ADDRESSES: MACOSH will meet at the
U.S. Department of Labor, 200
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington,
DC 20210; phone: (202) 693–2086; fax:
(202) 693–1663. Mail comments, views,
or statements in response to this notice
to Jim Maddux, Director, Office of
Maritime, OSHA, U.S. Department of
Labor, Room N–3609, 200 Constitution
Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210;
phone (202) 693–2086; FAX: (202) 693–
1663.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
general information about MACOSH
and this meeting: Jim Maddux, Director,
Office of Maritime, U.S. Department of
Labor, Room N–3609, 200 Constitution
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210;
phone: (202) 693–2086. For information
about the submission of comments and
requests to speak: Vanessa L. Welch,
Office of Maritime, OSHA, U.S.
Department of Labor, Room N–3609,
200 Constitution Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20210; Phone: (202)
693–2086. Individuals with disabilities
wishing to attend the meeting should
contact Vanessa L. Welch at (202) 693–
2086 no later than March 15, 2005 to
obtain appropriate accommodations.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: All
MACOSH meetings, including work
group meetings, are open to the public.
All interested persons are invited to
attend MACOSH at the times and place
listed above. The MACOSH meeting on
March 31, 2005 will include discussions
of MACOSH work group reports.
Specific topics will include exposure
monitoring information on beryllium
and silica, shipyard practices on the
control of hazardous energy (lockout/
tagout), and analyses of accident
causation data. MACOSH has several
active work groups. The container
safety, longshoring, and shipyard work
groups will meet on the morning of
March 30. The work groups dealing
with health issues, traffic safety, and
safety culture will meet on the afternoon
of March 30.
E:\FR\FM\02MRN1.SGM
02MRN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 2, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10152-10153]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-824]
[[Page 10152]]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training Administration
Labor Certification Process for the Temporary Employment of
Aliens in Agriculture and Logging in the United States: 2005 Adverse
Effect Wage Rates, Allowable Charges for Agricultural and Logging
Workers' Meals, and Maximum Travel Subsistence Reimbursement
AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Department of Labor.
ACTION: Notice of Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWRs), allowable charges
for meals, and maximum travel subsistence reimbursement for 2005.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the
Department of Labor (Department or DOL) is issuing this notice to
announce: the 2005 AEWRS for employers seeking to employ temporary or
seasonal nonimmigrant alien workers to perform agricultural labor or
services (H-2A workers) or logging (H-2 logging workers); the allowable
charges for 2005 that employers seeking H-2A workers and H-2 logging
workers may levy upon their workers when three meals a day are provided
by the employer; and the maximum travel subsistence reimbursement which
a worker with receipts may claim in 2005.
AEWRs are the minimum wage rates the Department has determined must
be offered and paid to U.S. and alien workers by employers of H-2A
workers or H-2 logging workers. AEWRs are established to prevent the
employment of these aliens from adversely affecting wages of similarly
employed U.S. workers. The Department announces the AEWRs for 2005.
The Department also announces the new rates for 2005 which covered
agricultural and logging employers may charge their workers for three
daily meals.
Under specified conditions, workers are entitled to reimbursement
for travel subsistence expenses. The minimum reimbursement is the
charge for three daily meals as noted above. The Department also
announces the current maximum reimbursement that may be claimed in 2005
by workers with receipts.
EFFECTIVE DATE: March 2, 2005.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Carlson, Chief, Division of
Foreign Labor Certification, 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 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services may not approve an employer's petition for admission of H-2A
workers or H-2 logging workers in the United States unless the
petitioner has received from DOL an H-2A or H-2 labor certification, as
appropriate. Approved labor certifications attest: (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 alien
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), and 1188.
DOL's regulations for the H-2A and H-2 program require covered
employers to offer and pay their U.S., H-2A, and H-2 workers no less
than the applicable hourly AEWR in effect at the time the work is
performed. 20 CFR 655.102(b)(9) and 655.202(b)(9). See also 20 CFR
655.107 and 655.207. Reference should be made to the preamble of the
final rule, 54 FR 28037 (July 5, 1989), which explains in great depth
the purpose and history of AEWRs, DOL's discretion in setting AEWRs,
and the AEWR computation methodology at 20 CFR 655.107(a). See also 52
FR 20496, 20502-20505 (June 1, 1987).
A. Adverse Effect Wage Rates for 2005
AEWRs are the minimum wage rates which DOL has determined must be
offered and paid to U.S. and alien workers by employers of H-2A workers
or H-2 logging workers. DOL emphasizes, however, that employers of H-2A
workers must pay the highest of (i) the AEWR in effect at the time the
work is performed, (ii) the applicable prevailing wage, or (iii) the
statutory minimum wage, as specified in the regulations. 20 CFR
655.102(b)(9). Employers of H-2 logging workers must pay at least the
AEWR. 20 CFR 655.202(b)(9).
Except as otherwise provided in 20 CFR part 655, subpart B, the
region-wide AEWR for all agricultural employment (except those
occupations deemed inappropriate under the special circumstance
provisions of 20 CFR 655.93) for which temporary H-2A certification is
being sought, is equal to the annual weighted average hourly wage rate
for field and livestock workers (combined) for the region as published
annually by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). 20 CFR
655.107(a). USDA does not provide data on Alaska.
20 CFR 655.107(a) requires the Assistant Secretary, Employment and
Training Administration, to publish USDA field and livestock worker
(combined) wage data as AEWRs in a Federal Register notice.
Accordingly, the 2005 AEWRs for agricultural work performed by U.S. and
H-2A workers on or after the effective date of this notice are set
forth in the table below:
2005 Adverse Effect Wage Rates
------------------------------------------------------------------------
State 2005 AEWR
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama..................................................... $8.07
Arizona..................................................... 7.63
Arkansas.................................................... 7.80
California.................................................. 8.56
Colorado.................................................... 8.93
Connecticut................................................. 9.05
Delaware.................................................... 8.48
Florida..................................................... 8.07
Georgia..................................................... 8.07
Hawaii...................................................... 9.75
Idah........................................................ 8.20
Illinois.................................................... 9.20
Indiana..................................................... 9.20
Iowa........................................................ 8.95
Kansas...................................................... 9.00
Kentucky.................................................... 8.17
Louisiana................................................... 7.80
Maine....................................................... 9.05
Maryland.................................................... 8.48
Massachusetts............................................... 9.05
Michigan.................................................... 9.18
Minnesota................................................... 9.18
Mississippi................................................. 7.80
Missouri.................................................... 8.95
Montana..................................................... 8.20
Nebraska.................................................... 9.00
Nevada...................................................... 8.93
New Hampshire............................................... 9.05
New Jersey.................................................. 8.48
New Mexico.................................................. 7.63
New York.................................................... 9.05
North Carolina.............................................. 8.24
North Dakota................................................ 9.00
Ohio........................................................ 9.20
Oklahoma.................................................... 7.89
Oregon...................................................... 9.03
Pennsylvania................................................ 8.48
Rhode Island................................................ 9.05
South Carolina.............................................. 8.07
South Dakota................................................ 9.00
Tennessee................................................... 8.17
Texas....................................................... 7.89
Utah........................................................ 8.93
Vermont..................................................... 9.05
Virginia.................................................... 8.24
Washington.................................................. 9.03
West Virginia............................................... 8.17
Wisconsin................................................... 9.18
Wyoming..................................................... 8.20
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The AEWRs for all logging employment shall be the prevailing wage
rates in the area of intended employment. 20 CFR 655.207(a).
B. Allowable Meal Charges
Among the minimum benefits and working conditions which DOL
requires
[[Page 10153]]
employers to offer their U.S., H-2A, and H-2 logging workers are three
meals a day or free and convenient cooking and kitchen facilities. 20
CFR 655.102(b)(4) and 655.202(b)(4). Where the employer provides meals,
the job offer must state the charge, if any, to the worker for meals.
DOL has published at 20 CFR 655.102(b)(4) and 655.111(a) the
methodology for determining the maximum amounts that covered H-2A
agricultural employers may charge their U.S. and foreign workers for
meals. The same methodology is applied at 20 CFR 655.202(b)(4) and
655.211(a) to covered H-2 logging employers. These rules provide for
annual adjustments of the previous year's allowable charges based upon
Consumer Price Index (CPI) data.
Each year the maximum charges allowed by 20 CFR 655.102(b)(4) and
655.202(b)(4) are adjusted by the same percentage as the twelve-month
percent change in the CPI for all Urban Consumers for Food (CPI-U for
Food) between December of the year just concluded and December of the
year prior to that. ETA may permit an employer to charge workers no
more than the higher maximum amount set forth in 20 CFR 655.111(a) and
655.211(a), as applicable, for providing them with three meals a day,
if justified and sufficiently documented. Each year, the higher maximum
amounts permitted by 20 CFR 655.111(a) and 655.211(a) are changed by
the same percentage as the twelve-month percent change in the CPI-U for
Food between December of the year just concluded and December of the
year prior to that. The program's regulations require DOL to make the
annual adjustments and to publish a notice in the Federal Register each
calendar year, announcing annual adjustments in allowable charges that
may be made by covered agricultural and logging employers for providing
three meals daily to their U.S. and alien workers. The 2004 rates were
published in the Federal Register notice, 69 FR 10063, (March 3, 2004).
DOL has determined the percentage change between December of 2003
and December of 2004 for the CPI-U for Food was 3.4 percent.
Accordingly, the maximum allowable charges under 20 CFR 655.102(b)(4),
655.202(b)(4), 655.111, and 655.211 were adjusted using this percentage
change, and the new permissible charges for 2005 are as follows: (1)
Charges under 20 CFR 655.102(b)(4) and 655.202(b)(4) shall be no more
than $9.08 per day, unless ETA has approved a higher charge pursuant to
20 CFR 655.111 or 655.211; (2) charges under 20 CFR 655.111 and 655.211
shall be no more than $11.25 per day, if the employer justifies the
charge and submits to ETA the documentation required to support the
higher charge.
C. Maximum Travel Subsistence Expense
The regulations at 20 CFR 655.102(b)(5) establish that the minimum
daily subsistence expense related to travel expenses, for which a
worker is entitled to reimbursement, is equivalent to the employer's
daily charge for three meals or, if the employer makes no charge, the
amount permitted under 20 CFR 655.104(b)(4). The regulation is silent
about the maximum amount to which a qualifying worker is entitled.
The Department, in Field Memorandum 42-94, established the maximum
meals component of the standard continental United States (CONUS) per
diem rate established by the General Services Administration (GSA) and
published at 41 CFR part 301. The CONUS meal component is now $31.00
per day. Workers who qualify for travel reimbursement are entitled to
reimbursement up to the CONUS meal rate for related subsistence when
they provide receipts. In determining the appropriate amount of
subsistence reimbursement, the employer may use the GSA system under
which a traveler qualifies for meal expense reimbursement per quarter
of a day. Thus, a worker whose travel occurred during two quarters of a
day is entitled, with receipts, to a maximum reimbursement of $15.50.
If a worker has no receipts, the employer is not obligated to reimburse
above the minimum stated at 20 CFR 655.102(b)(4) as specified above.
Signed in Washington, DC, this 22nd day of February, 2005.
Emily Stover DeRocco,
Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training Administration.
[FR Doc. E5-824 Filed 3-1-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-P
