Employment and Training Administration – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Labor's (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is soliciting comments concerning a proposed extension for the authority to conduct the information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Tax Performance System (TPS).'' 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).

The U.S. Department of Labor (Department) is publishing this final rule to adjust for inflation the civil monetary penalties assessed or enforced by the Department, pursuant to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (Inflation Adjustment Act). The Inflation Adjustment Act requires the Department to annually adjust its civil money penalty levels for inflation no later than January 15 of each year. The Inflation Adjustment Act provides that agencies shall adjust civil monetary penalties notwithstanding Section 553 of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Additionally, the Inflation Adjustment Act provides a cost- of-living formula for adjustment of the civil penalties. Accordingly, this final rule sets forth the Department's 2021 annual adjustments for inflation to its civil monetary penalties.

The Department of Labor (Department or DOL) is issuing this Direct Final Rule to require electronic filing (e-filing) and make acceptance of electronic service (e-service) automatic for attorneys and non-attorney representatives representing parties in proceedings before the Administrative Review Board (Board), unless the Board authorizes non-electronic filing and service for good cause. Self- represented persons will have the option of e-filing or of filing papers by conventional means. This rule establishes a new part containing rules of practice and procedure for the Board and amends existing regulations concerning filing and service that apply where a governing statute or executive order does not establish contrary rules of filing and service. It also makes other minor corrections to update existing regulations.

Each year, the Department of Defense issues a Schedule of Remuneration used by states for UCX purposes. States must use the schedule to determine Federal military wages for UCX ``first claims'' only when the Federal Claims Control Center (FCCC) responds to a request for information indicating that there is no Copy 5 of the Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty (DD Form 214) for an individual under the social security number provided. A response from the FCCC that indicates ``no DD214 on file'' will prompt the state to start the affidavit process and to use the attached schedule to calculate the Federal military wages for an unemployment insurance or UCX monetary determination. The schedule applies to UCX ``first claims'' filed beginning with the first day of the first week that begins on or after January 1, 2021. States must continue to use the 2020 schedule (or other appropriate schedule) for UCX ``first claims'' filed before the effective date of the revised schedule.

The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Labor (DOL) are jointly issuing this notice of proposed rulemaking to seek public comments on a proposal to extend DOL's recently established system of discretionary Secretary of Labor review to H-2B temporary labor certification cases (H-2B cases) pending before or decided by the Department of Labor's Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals and to make technical, conforming changes to regulations governing the timing and finality of those decisions and of decisions from the Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board in H-2B cases.

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the Department of Labor (Department) is issuing this notice to announce the 2021 Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) for the employment of temporary or seasonal nonimmigrant foreign workers (H-2A workers) to perform herding or production of livestock on the range. AEWRs are the minimum wage rates the Department has determined must be offered and paid by employers to H-2A workers and workers in corresponding employment so that the wages and working conditions of workers in the United States (U.S.) similarly employed will not be adversely affected. In this notice, the Department announces the annual update of the AEWR for workers engaged in the herding or production of livestock on the range, as required by the methodology established in the Temporary Agricultural Employment of H-2A Foreign Workers in the Herding or Production of Livestock on the Range in the United States, 80 FR 62958, 63067-63068 (Oct. 16, 2015); 20 CFR 655.211.

The Department of Labor's (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is soliciting comments concerning a proposed extension for the authority to conduct the information collection request (ICR) titled, ``DOL-only Performance Accountability, Information, and Reporting System.'' 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).

This notice announces a retroactive change in benefit period eligibility under the EB program for Washington, DC.

The Department of Labor's (DOL) Employment and Training Administration, pursuant to the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations implementing procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the Department's own implementing regulations, provides the Department's final determination that the proposed disposal of a 91-acre area of excess property at the Atterbury Job Corps Center, and that this project will not have a significant adverse impact on the environment.

The Department of Labor (Department or DOL) is amending its regulations governing the certification of agricultural labor or services to be performed by temporary foreign workers in H-2A nonimmigrant status (H-2A workers). Specifically, the Department is amending its regulations to revise the methodology by which it determines the hourly Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWRs) for non-range agricultural occupations using wage data reported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Farm Labor Survey (FLS) and the Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey. This final rule improves the consistency and accuracy of the AEWRs based on the actual work being performed by H-2A workers, and establishes better stability and predictability for employers to comply with their wage obligations. These regulations are consistent with the Secretary of Labor's (Secretary) statutory responsibility to certify that the employment of H-2A workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of workers in the United States similarly employed. While the Department intends to address all of the remaining proposals from the July 26, 2019 proposed rule in a subsequent, second final rule governing other aspects of the certification of agricultural labor or services to be performed by H-2A workers and enforcement of the contractual obligations applicable to employers of such nonimmigrant workers, the Department focused this final rule on the immediate need for regulatory action to revise the methodology by which it determines the hourly AEWRs for non-range agricultural occupations before the end of the calendar year.

The purpose of this notice is to announce the annual Labor Surplus Area (LSA) list for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021.

The Department of Labor's (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is soliciting comments concerning a proposed extension for the authority to conduct the information collection request (ICR) titled, ``ETA 581 Contribution Operations.'' The ETA 581 provides information on volume of work and state agency performance in determining the taxable status of employers and the processing of wage items; in the collection of past due contributions and payments in lieu of contributions, and delinquent reports; and in field audit activity. The data provide measures of the effectiveness of the tax program. 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).

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the Department of Labor (the Department) is removing the regulations which implement and govern the Welfare-to-Work (WtW) programs conducted at the state and local area levels and provide program requirements applicable to all WtW formula and competitive funds under the Social Security Act (SSA). Congressional authorization for this program has expired, and all remaining grant funding was rescinded by the Department in 2004. Accordingly, these regulations are no longer necessary. This technical amendment is a ministerial action to remove obsolete regulations from the Code of Federal Regulations.