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

Notice is hereby given that the Workforce Information Advisory Council (WIAC or Advisory Council) will meet in person February 6-7, 2024. Information for public attendance, both in-person and virtually, will be posted at www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/wioa/wiac/meetings a week prior to the meeting dates. The meetings will be open to the public.

The Department of Labor's (Department or DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is considering revisions to Schedule A of the permanent labor certification process to include occupations in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and other non- STEM occupations and invites employers and other interested parties to comment on this Request for Information (RFI). ETA's Office of Foreign Labor Certification developed this RFI and is publishing it for comment so that the public may provide input, including data, statistical metrics or models, studies, and other relevant information, on how the Department may establish a reliable, objective, and transparent methodology for revising Schedule A to include STEM and other non-STEM occupations that are experiencing labor shortages, consistent with requirements of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The Department wants to ensure that it is striking an appropriate balance between the need to provide U.S. workers notice of available permanent job opportunities and the opportunity to apply for those job opportunities, and, where insufficient U.S. workers are available to satisfy an employer's need for permanent labor, the need to provide employers access to foreign labor through effective administration of the permanent labor certification program. Information received from the public will help inform decisions regarding whether or how to improve Schedule A and ensure that its purpose in responding to national labor shortages is more effectively met.

The Employment and Training Administration of the Department of Labor (DOL) is issuing this notice to announce the 2024 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, advertised in recruitment, 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, 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 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, ``Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Joint Quarterly Narrative Performance Report.'' 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).