Employment and Training Administration December 2022 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On December 15, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Labor jointly published a temporary rule titled ``Exercise of Time-Limited Authority to Increase the Numerical Limitation for FY 2023 for the H-2B Temporary Nonagricultural Worker Program and Portability Flexibility for H-2B Workers Seeking to Change Employers.'' The temporary rule contains errors that this document corrects.

The Employment and Training Administration of the Department of Labor (DOL) is issuing this notice to announce the 2023 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 DOL has determined must be offered and paid by employers to H-2A workers and workers in corresponding employment to help ensure the Department meets its statutory obligation to certify that the employment of H-2A foreign workers will not have an adverse effect on the agricultural wages of workers in the United States (U.S.) similarly employed will not be adversely affected. In this notice, DOL 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 previously established in 2015.

The Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor, is exercising his time-limited Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 authority and increasing the total number of noncitizens who may receive an H-2B nonimmigrant visa by up to, but no more than, a total of 64,716 for the entirety of FY 2023. To assist U.S. businesses that need workers to begin work on different start dates, the Departments have decided to distribute the supplemental visas in several allocations, including two separate allocations for the second half of fiscal year 2023. Out of the total 64,716 visas made available in this rule, the Departments have decided to reserve 20,000 visas for nationals of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, or Haiti. The Departments will make all 64,716 visas available only to those businesses that are suffering irreparable harm or will suffer impending irreparable harm, as attested by the employer on a new attestation form. In addition to making the additional 64,716 visas available under the FY 2023 time-limited authority, DHS is exercising its general H-2B regulatory authority to again provide temporary portability flexibility by allowing H-2B workers who are already in the United States to begin work immediately after an H-2B petition (supported by a valid temporary labor certification) is received by USCIS, and before it is approved.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is requesting information on successful approaches related to digital skills attainment and competency development in education and training efforts, the strategies our education and workforce development systems are employing to assess and ensure individuals are digitally resilient, and any challenges the education and public workforce systems are facing. DOL is also requesting information on strategies to advance digital equity and inclusion in the workforce. DOL developed this RFI with substantial input from the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce), U.S. Department of Education (ED), and the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences (IMLS), as part of its long-standing coordination and partnership with these agencies.