Employment and Training Administration February 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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 revising the methodology by which it determines the hourly Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWRs) for non-range occupations (i.e., all occupations other than herding and production of livestock on the range) using a combination of wage data reported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Farm Labor Reports (better known as the Farm Labor Survey, or FLS), and the Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, formerly the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey prior to March 31, 2021. For the vast majority of H-2A job opportunities represented by the six Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes comprising the field and livestock worker (combined) wages reported by USDA, the Department will continue to rely on the FLS to establish the AEWRs where a wage is reported by the FLS. For all other SOC codes, the Department will use the OEWS survey to establish the AEWRs for each SOC code. Additionally, in circumstances in which the FLS does not report a wage for the field and livestock workers (combined) occupational group in a particular State or region, the Department will use the OEWS survey to determine the AEWR for that occupational group. These regulatory changes 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. The Department believes this methodology strikes a reasonable balance between the statute's competing goals of providing employers with an adequate supply of legal agricultural labor and protecting the wages and working conditions of workers in the United States similarly employed.

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), gives final notice of the proposed disposal of two tracts at the Gary Job Corps Center totaling 244.91 acres and that this project will not have a significant adverse impact on the environment.

The Department of Labor's (DOL or Department) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is soliciting comments concerning a proposed extension for the authority to conduct the information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Job Corps Health Questionnaire.'' 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 Department of Labor's (DOL or Department) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is soliciting comments concerning a proposed extension for the authority to conduct the information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Job Corps Enrollee Allotment Determination.'' 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).

As further discussed below, the Department of Labor (Department) and United States Postal Service (USPS), working with states, plan to provide an in-person option for conducting the identity verification states perform in administering Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits (the ``Project''). In this notice, the Department recognizes that for purposes of conducting in-person identity verification in connection with UI benefits, pursuant to a signed Interagency Agreement (``IAA'') with the Department, the USPS has in place safeguards adequate to satisfy the requirements of section 303(a)(1), SSA. As a result, including the safeguards and security requirements, do not apply to disclosures of confidential unemployment compensation (UC) information by state UC agencies to the Department, for redisclosure to USPS, for the limited purposes set forth herein.

The Department of Labor's (DOL or Department) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is soliciting comments concerning a proposed extension for the authority to conduct the information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Job Corps Placement and Assistance Record.'' 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).