Department of Labor December 30, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Mass Layoff Statistics Program,'' to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval for continued use in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

The Department of Labor (we or the Department), as a result of Congressional appropriations language, recently delayed the effective date of the Wage Methodology for Temporary Non-agricultural Employment H-2B Program Final Rule (the Wage Rule) to January 1, 2012. This Notice provides additional guidance to those employers who have received from the Department either a supplemental or dual prevailing wage determinations based on a previous effective date of the new prevailing wage methodology. This guidance provides additional clarification regarding the wage payment requirements for employers participating in the H-2B Temporary Non-agricultural program.

This final rule contains regulations implementing amendments to the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA) by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), relating to the exclusion of certain recreational-vessel workers from the LHWCA's definition of ``employee.'' These regulations clarify both the definition of ``recreational vessel'' and those circumstances under which workers are excluded from LHWCA coverage when working on those vessels. The final rule also withdraws a proposed rule that would have codified current case law and the Department's longstanding view that employees are covered under the LHWCA so long as some of their work constitutes ``maritime employment'' within the meaning of the statute.