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, 10246-10247 [2022-03762]
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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 36 / Wednesday, February 23, 2022 / Notices
other forms of information technology,
(e.g., permitting electronic submission
of responses).
Agency: DOL–ETA.
Type of Review: Extension without
changes.
Title of Collection: Unemployment
Insurance Benefit Accuracy
Measurement.
Form: BAM State Operations
Handbook (ET Handbook 395, 5th
edition).
OMB Control Number: 1205–0245.
Affected Public: State Workforce
Agencies (Primary), individuals,
businesses, and not-for-profit
institutions.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
181,633.
Frequency: Varies.
Total Estimated Annual Responses:
228,745.
Estimated Average Time per
Response: Varies.
Estimated Total Annual Burden
Hours: 618,084 hours.
Total Estimated Annual Other Cost
Burden: $0.
(Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A))
Angela Hanks,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Employment
and Training, Labor.
[FR Doc. 2022–03765 Filed 2–22–22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510–FW–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
Employment and Training
Administration, Department of Labor.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
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 these 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
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SUMMARY:
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18:04 Feb 22, 2022
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reminder regarding employers’
obligations with respect to overnight
lodging costs as part of required
subsistence.
DATES: This notice is effective on
February 23, 2022.
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
each worker three meals per day or
provide the workers 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
1 H–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).
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Frm 00080
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
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.
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 2020 and
December 2021 was 6.3 percent.2 Thus,
the annual update to the H–2A
allowable meal charge is calculated by
multiplying the current allowable meal
charge ($13.17) by the 12-month
percentage change in the CPI–U for
Food between December 2020 and
December 2021 ($13.17 × 1.063 =
$14.00). Accordingly, the updated
maximum allowable charge under 20
CFR 655.122(g) and 655.173 is $14.00
per day, and an employer is not
permitted to charge a worker more than
$14.00 per day unless the OFLC
Certifying Officer approves a higher
charge, as authorized under 20 CFR
655.173(b).3
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 worksite 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 of daily travel-related
subsistence between the employer’s
2 Consumer Price Index—December 2021,
published January 12, 2022, at https://www.bls.gov/
news.release/archives/cpi_01122022.pdf.
3 In 2021, the maximum allowable charge under
20 CFR 655.122(g) and 655.173 was $13.17 per day.
See 86 FR 13756 (Mar. 10, 2021).
E:\FR\FM\23FEN1.SGM
23FEN1
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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 36 / Wednesday, February 23, 2022 / Notices
worksite and the place from which the
worker has come to work for the
employer, if the worker completes 50
percent of the work contract period. The
employer must provide (or pay at the
time of departure) the worker’s return
costs upon the worker completing the
contract or being dismissed without
cause. See 20 CFR 655.122(h)(1) and (2).
Similarly, an H–2B employer is
responsible for providing, paying in
advance, or reimbursing a worker for the
reasonable costs of transportation and
daily subsistence between the
employer’s worksite and the place from
which the worker has come to work for
the employer—if the worker completes
50 percent of the job order period—and
upon the worker completing the job
order period or being dismissed early
(for any reason), return costs as well.
See 20 CFR 655.20(j)(1)(i) and (ii).
The minimum amount of daily travel
subsistence expense for meals for 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 per day
during employment (if applicable).
Under no circumstances may the
employer reimburse workers less than
the amount permitted under 20 CFR
655.173(a) (i.e., the current year’s daily
meal charge amount of $14.00). The
maximum amount an employer is
required to reimburse workers for daily
travel-related 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, 86 FR 45731
(Aug. 16, 2021) (2021 Update). The
standard CONUS meals and incidental
expenses rate is $59.00 per day for
2022.4 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 2021 Update, 86 FR at
45731. If a worker does not provide
receipts, the employer is not obligated
4 See
id.
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18:04 Feb 22, 2022
Jkt 256001
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. 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 H–2A
Frequently Asked Questions on Travel
and Daily Subsistence, on OFLC’s
website at https://www.dol.gov/
agencies/eta/foreign-labor.
Authority: 20 CFR 655.173.
Angela Hanks,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Employment
and Training, Labor.
[FR Doc. 2022–03762 Filed 2–22–22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510–FP–P
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training
Administration
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Comment Request;
Unemployment Compensation for ExServicemembers, Handbook No. 384
ACTION:
Notice.
The Department of Labor’s
(DOL) Employment and Training
Administration (ETA) is soliciting
comments concerning a proposed
revision to the information collection
request (ICR) titled, ‘‘Unemployment
Compensation for Ex-servicemembers
Handbook No. 384.’’ This comment
request is part of continuing
Departmental efforts to reduce
paperwork and respondent burden in
accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA).
DATES: Consideration will be given to all
written comments received by April 25,
2022.
ADDRESSES: A copy of this ICR with
applicable supporting documentation,
including a description of the likely
SUMMARY:
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
10247
respondents, proposed frequency of
response, and estimated total burden,
may be obtained free by contacting Jorge
Colo´n by telephone at (202) 693–0173
(this is not a toll-free number), TTY 1–
877–889–5627 (this is not a toll-free
number), or by email at Colon.Jorge.D@
dol.gov.
Submit written comments about, or
requests for a copy of, this ICR by mail
or courier to the U.S. Department of
Labor, Employment and Training
Administration, Office of
Unemployment Insurance, 200
Constitution Ave. NW, S–4524,
Washington, DC 20210; or by email:
Colon.Jorge.D@dol.gov or by Fax at 202–
693–3975.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jorge Colo´n by telephone at (202) 693–
0173 (this is not a toll-free number) or
by email at Colon.Jorge.D@dol.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: DOL, as
part of continuing efforts to reduce
paperwork and respondent burden,
conducts a pre-clearance consultation
program to provide the general public
and Federal agencies an opportunity to
comment on proposed and/or
continuing collections of information
before submitting them to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for final
approval. This program helps to ensure
requested data can be provided in the
desired format, reporting burden (time
and financial resources) is minimized,
collection instruments are clearly
understood, and the impact of collection
requirements can be properly assessed.
This notice reflects a revision changing
the burden for the frequency of
responses per respondent, reducing the
frequency from 51.5 to 36.
State Workforce Agencies (SWA)
administer the Unemployment
Compensation for Ex-servicemembers
(UCX) program in accordance with the
same terms and provisions of the paying
State’s unemployment insurance laws,
which apply to unemployed claimants
who worked in the private sector. SWAs
must be able to obtain certain
information (wage and separation data)
about each claimant filing claims for
UCX benefits in order to determine their
eligibility for benefits. DOL has
prescribed a form to enable SWAs to
obtain this necessary information from
the Military Branches. Form ETA–843 is
essential to the UCX claims process, and
the frequency of use varies depending
upon the circumstances involved.
Sections 8521–8525 of Title 5 of the
U.S. Code authorize this information
collection.
This information collection is subject
to the PRA. A Federal agency generally
cannot conduct or sponsor a collection
E:\FR\FM\23FEN1.SGM
23FEN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 36 (Wednesday, February 23, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10246-10247]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-03762]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 these 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: This notice is effective on February 23, 2022.
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 each worker three meals per day or provide the
workers 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ H-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).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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. 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 2020
and December 2021 was 6.3 percent.\2\ Thus, the annual update to the H-
2A allowable meal charge is calculated by multiplying the current
allowable meal charge ($13.17) by the 12-month percentage change in the
CPI-U for Food between December 2020 and December 2021 ($13.17 x 1.063
= $14.00). Accordingly, the updated maximum allowable charge under 20
CFR 655.122(g) and 655.173 is $14.00 per day, and an employer is not
permitted to charge a worker more than $14.00 per day unless the OFLC
Certifying Officer approves a higher charge, as authorized under 20 CFR
655.173(b).\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Consumer Price Index--December 2021, published January 12,
2022, at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/cpi_01122022.pdf.
\3\ In 2021, the maximum allowable charge under 20 CFR
655.122(g) and 655.173 was $13.17 per day. See 86 FR 13756 (Mar. 10,
2021).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 worksite 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 of daily
travel-related subsistence between the employer's
[[Page 10247]]
worksite and the place from which the worker has come to work for the
employer, if the worker completes 50 percent of the work contract
period. The employer must provide (or pay at the time of departure) the
worker's return costs upon the worker completing the contract or being
dismissed without cause. See 20 CFR 655.122(h)(1) and (2).
Similarly, an H-2B employer is responsible for providing, paying in
advance, or reimbursing a worker for the reasonable costs of
transportation and daily subsistence between the employer's worksite
and the place from which the worker has come to work for the employer--
if the worker completes 50 percent of the job order period--and upon
the worker completing the job order period or being dismissed early
(for any reason), return costs as well. See 20 CFR 655.20(j)(1)(i) and
(ii).
The minimum amount of daily travel subsistence expense for meals
for 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 per day during employment (if applicable). Under no circumstances
may the employer reimburse workers less than the amount permitted under
20 CFR 655.173(a) (i.e., the current year's daily meal charge amount of
$14.00). The maximum amount an employer is required to reimburse
workers for daily travel-related 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/per-diem-rates. See
Maximum Per Diem Reimbursement Rates for the Continental United States,
86 FR 45731 (Aug. 16, 2021) (2021 Update). The standard CONUS meals and
incidental expenses rate is $59.00 per day for 2022.\4\ 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 2021 Update, 86 FR at 45731. 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ See id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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. 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 H-2A Frequently Asked Questions on
Travel and Daily Subsistence, on OFLC's website at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/foreign-labor.
Authority: 20 CFR 655.173.
Angela Hanks,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, Labor.
[FR Doc. 2022-03762 Filed 2-22-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-FP-P