Employment and Training Administration – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This Notice announces proposed modifications to the allotment formula for the National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP), which is authorized under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), Section 167, and presents preliminary State planning estimates for Program Year (PY) 2021. These allotments are estimates based on the funds appropriated in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (from this point forward will be referred to as the ``the Act''). The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Employment and Training Administration (ETA) will accept comments related to the allotment methodology, including modifications and the hold-harmless provision.

The Department of Labor (the Department) proposes to amend its regulations regarding the adjudication of temporary need for employers seeking herding or production of livestock on the range job opportunities under the H-2A program. Consistent with a court-approved settlement agreement, this notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM or proposed rule) would rescind the regulation that governs the period of need for such job opportunities to ensure the Department's adjudication of temporary or seasonal need is conducted in the same manner for all applications for temporary agricultural labor certification.

This notice announces a changes in benefit period eligibility under the EB program that have occurred since the publication of the last notice regarding the State's EB status: Based on the data submitted by the Virgin Islands for the week ending April 10, 2021, the Virgin Islands' 13-week IUR was 4.83 percent, falling below the 5.0 percent IUR threshold necessary to remain ``on'' EB. Therefore, the EB period for the Virgin Islands ends on May 1, 2021. The state will remain in an ``off'' period for a minimum of 13 weeks.

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 ``Labor Condition Application for H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 Nonimmigrants'' and ``Nonimmigrant Worker Information Form''; and related information collection and retention requirements (OMB Control Number 1205-0310), which covers Form ETA-9035, Form ETA-9035E, Form ETA-9035 & 9035E Appendix A, Form ETA-9035CP, and Form WH-4. This action seeks an extension of the forms 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).

This notice announces allotments for PY 2021 for WIOA Title I Youth, Adult, and Dislocated Worker Activities programs; allotments for Employment Service (ES) activities under the Wagner-Peyser Act for PY 2021 and the allotments of Workforce Information Grants to States for PY 2021.

The Department of Labor's (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is soliciting comments concerning a proposed extension with revisions for the information collection request (ICR) titled, ``The Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) Programmatic and Performance Reporting Requirements.'' 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).

Title I of WIOA requires the U.S. Secretary of Labor (Secretary) to update and publish the LLSIL tables annually, for uses described in the law (including determining eligibility for youth). WIOA defines the term ``low income individual'' as (inter alia) one whose total family annual income does not exceed the higher level of the poverty line or 70 percent of the LLSIL. This issuance provides the Secretary's annual LLSIL for 2021 and references the current 2021 Health and Human Services ``Poverty Guidelines.''

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, ``O*NET Data Collection 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 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, ``Experience Rating 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).

On March 12, 2021, the Department of Labor (Department or DOL) published a final rule delaying the effective date of the rule entitled Strengthening Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Aliens in the United States (the rule or Final Rule), published in the Federal Register on January 14, 2021, from March 15, 2021 until May 14, 2021. This action proposes to further delay the effective date of the rule by eighteen months or until November 14, 2022, along with corresponding proposed delays to the rule's transition dates. This additional delay will provide a sufficient amount of time to thoroughly consider the legal and policy issues raised in the rule, and offer the public, through the issuance of a separate Request for Information, an opportunity to provide information on the sources and methods for determining prevailing wage levels covering employment opportunities that United States (U.S.) employers seek to fill with foreign workers on a permanent or temporary basis through certain employment-based immigrant visas or through H-1B, H-1B1, or E-3 nonimmigrant visas. This proposed delay will also provide agency officials with a sufficient amount of time to compute and validate prevailing wage data covering specific occupations and geographic areas, complete and thoroughly test system modifications, train staff, and conduct public outreach to ensure an effective and orderly implementation of any revisions to the prevailing wage levels.

The Department of Labor is withdrawing the proposed rule that accompanied its direct final rule (DFR) that requires electronic filing (e-filing) and makes 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; 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.

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the Department of Labor (Department) 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 notice to announce the 2021 Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWR) for the employment of temporary or seasonal nonimmigrant foreign workers (H-2A workers) to perform agricultural labor or services other than the 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 for a particular occupation and area so that the wages and working conditions of similarly employed workers in the United States will not be adversely affected. In this notice, the Department announces updates of the AEWRs, which are effective immediately pursuant to a recent federal court order. Supplemental Order Regarding Preliminary Injunctive Relief, United Farm Workers, et al. v. U.S. Dep't of Labor, et al., No. 20-cv-1690 (E.D. Cal. Jan. 12, 2021), ECF No. 39.

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.