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, ``Weekly Claims and Extended Benefits Data and Weekly Initial and Continued Weeks Claimed.'' 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).

In this notice, the Department of Labor (Department) recognizes that the United States Census Bureau (Census) has in place safeguards adequate to satisfy the requirements of the Federal regulation on the confidentiality and disclosure of unemployment compensation (UC) information. As a result, the safeguards and security requirements enumerated in the regulation do not apply to disclosures of confidential unemployment compensation information by state UC agencies to Census for the Longitudinal Employer Household Dynamics (LEHD) program.

The Department of Labor's (DOL), Employment Training Administration (ETA) is soliciting comments concerning a proposed revision to the authority to conduct the information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Post Enrollment Data Collection for Job Corps Participants.'' 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) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is soliciting comments concerning a proposed extension for the authority to conduct the information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Benefit Accuracy Measurement (BAM) 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 (DOL) is issuing this notice to announce the annual updates to allowable monetary charges employers of H-2A workers, in occupations other than herding or production of livestock on the range, may charge these workers when the employer provides three meals per day. This notice also announces the maximum travel subsistence meal reimbursement a worker with receipts may claim under the H-2A and H-2B programs. Finally, this notice includes a reminder regarding employers' obligations with respect to overnight lodging costs as part of required subsistence.

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the Department of Labor (Department) is issuing this proposed rule amending the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) regulations to conform with changes in the Supporting Older Americans Act of 2020 regarding individuals who have been incarcerated within the last 5 years. Consistent with the Act, this proposed rule adds this category of individuals to the priority groups; adds this category of individuals to the list of categories grantees may choose from to make eligible for increased periods of participation; includes people in this category within the definition of the term ``individuals with barriers to employment''; and requires that grantees identify and report on the relative distribution of these individuals in the State Plan.

The Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act (WIOA), requires the Secretary of Labor (Secretary) to conduct reallotment of certain WIOA formula allotted funds based on ETA 9130 financial reports submitted by states as of the end of the prior PY. This notice publishes the dislocated worker PY 2021 funds for recapture by state and the amount to be reallotted to eligible states.

The Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor, is exercising his time-limited Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 authority and increasing the total number of noncitizens who may receive an H-2B nonimmigrant visa by authorizing the issuance of no more than 20,000 additional visas during FY 2022 for positions with start dates on or before March 31, 2022, 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 additional visas available under the FY 2022 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 Employment and Training Administration, Labor, published a document in the Federal Register of December 16, 2021, regarding the February meeting of the Workforce Information Advisory Council (WIAC or Advisory Council). The meeting date has since changed.

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, ``Benefit Rights and Experience 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).

The Department of Labor's (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is soliciting comments concerning a proposed revision to the information collection request (ICR) titled ``H-2B Foreign Labor Certification Program,'' and related information collection and retention requirements (OMB Control Number 1205-0509), which covers Forms ETA-9142B, ETA-9142B, Appendices A, B, C, and D, ETA-9142B, Final Determination, ETA-9165, ETA-9155, H-2B Seafood Industry Attestation, and related form instructions. This action seeks to revise the Form ETA-9142B and its instructions, revise the Form ETA- 9142B Appendix D, and make a change to the Form ETA-9155 and its instructions to conform to changes made to the Form ETA-9142B. This action seeks to extend without change to the remaining forms in the information collection. 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).

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), notice is hereby given to announce a public meeting of the ACA to be held virtually on Wednesday, January 26, 2022. All meetings of the ACA are open to the public.

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, ``COVID-19 Symptom Tracker for Students, Emotional Wellness Form for Students, and Student Vaccination Status and Test Consent Form Collection''. 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 (Department) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is soliciting comments concerning a proposed extension for the authority to conduct the Information Collection Request (ICR), titled ``ETA-9127, Foreign Labor Certification Quarterly Activity Report.'' This action seeks an extension of the collection without changes. 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 of the Department of Labor (DOL) is issuing this notice to announce the 2022 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 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's) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is soliciting comments concerning a proposed extension for the authority to conduct the information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Short-Time Compensation (STC) Grants.'' 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 (Department or DOL) is proposing to amend 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 proposes to revise 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 Survey (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 six occupations comprising the field and livestock worker (combined) wages reported by USDA, the proposed regulations will rely on the FLS to establish the AEWRs for these occupations in accordance with the methodology used by the Department for nearly all of the last 30 years. For all other occupations and to address circumstances in which the FLS does not report wage data for the field and livestock worker occupations, the Department proposes to use the OEWS survey to establish the AEWRs for each occupation. These proposed 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. The Department believes the proposed methodology will strike a reasonable balance between the statute's competing goals of providing employers with an adequate legal supply of agricultural labor and protecting the wages and working conditions of workers in the United States similarly employed.

The purpose of this notice is to alert the public to an error in the previously published annual Labor Surplus Area (LSA) list for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022, and to announce the corrected LSA list for FY 2022.

The Department of Labor's (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is soliciting comments concerning a proposed revision to the authority to conduct the information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments Reports.'' 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), 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the Department of Labor (Department) is issuing this notice to announce updates to Appendix A to the Preamble-Education and Training Categories by Occupational Information Network (O*NET)-Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Occupations. Appendix A is a list of professional occupations that serves as a guide for employers to distinguish between professional and non-professional occupations in order to comply with the professional recruitment requirements of the permanent labor certification (PERM) program. In addition, this notice announces standard procedures for establishing Job Zones for a SOC code and occupational title in situations where O*NET Job Zone data are not yet available as O*NET transitions to the 2018 SOC system. These actions, updating Appendix A and establishing standard procedures for Job Zone values where O*NET Job Zone data are unavailable for certain occupations, will allow ETA to maintain a more comprehensive and current list of occupations and provide additional clarity to employers and the public regarding the appropriate education requirements and Job Zone value for each SOC code and occupational title.