BILLING CODE: 4510-FP-P
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training Administration
Labor Certification Process for the Temporary Employment of Foreign Workers in
Agriculture in the United States: Adverse Effect Wage Rate Updates for Non-Range
Occupations
AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Department of Labor.
ACTION: Notice.
SUMMARY: The Employment and Training Administration of the Department of Labor (DOL)
is issuing this notice to announce updates to the 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 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 AEWRs based on
wage data reported by DOL’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and
Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey. The AEWRs established in this notice are applicable to H-2A
job opportunities classified: in Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes other than the
six SOC codes comprising the field and livestock workers (combined) group, and in the field and
livestock workers (combined) occupational group that are located in States or regions, or
equivalent districts or territories, for which the United States Department of Agriculture’s Farm
Labor Report (better known as the Farm Labor Survey, or FLS) does not report a wage.
DATES: These rates are applicable July 8, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Pasternak, Administrator, Office of
Foreign Labor Certification, Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of

Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room N-5311, Washington, DC 20210, telephone: (202)
693-8200 (this is not a toll-free number). For persons with a hearing or speech disability who
need assistance to use the telephone system, please dial 711 to access telecommunications relay
services.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services of the
Department of Homeland Security will not approve an employer’s petition for the admission of
H-2A nonimmigrant temporary and seasonal agricultural workers in the U.S. unless the
petitioner has received an H-2A labor certification from DOL. DOL issues such labor
certification when it determines that: (1) there are not sufficient U.S. workers who are able,
willing, and qualified and who will be available at the time and place needed to perform the labor
or services involved in the petition; and (2) the employment of the foreign worker(s) in such
labor or services will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of workers in the
U.S. similarly employed. See 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a), 1184(c)(1), and 1188(a); 8 CFR
214.2(h)(5); 20 CFR 655.100.
DOL H-2A regulations at 20 CFR 655.122(l) provide that employers must pay their H2A workers in non-range occupations1 and workers in corresponding employment at least the
highest of various wage sources listed in § 655.120(a), including the AEWR. Further, when the
AEWR is updated during a work contract, the employer must pay at least that updated AEWR
upon the effective date of the new AEWR, if the updated AEWR is higher than the highest of the
previous AEWR, a prevailing rate for the crop activity or agricultural activity and, if applicable,
a distinct work task or tasks performed in that activity and geographic area, the agreed-upon
collective bargaining wage, the Federal minimum wage rate, or the State minimum wage rate.
See 20 CFR 655.120(b)(3). Similarly, when the AEWR is updated during a work contract and is

Range occupations (i.e., herding and production of livestock on the range) are subject to 20 CFR 655.200 through
655.235, which include a wage obligation provision at 20 CFR 655.210(g) and a minimum monthly AEWR at 20
CFR 655.211.
lower than the wage rate that is guaranteed on the job order, the employer must continue to pay
at least the wage rate guaranteed on the job order. See 20 CFR 655.120(b)(4).
Pursuant to the final rule, Adverse Effect Wage Rate Methodology for the Temporary
Employment of H–2A Nonimmigrants in Non-Range Occupations in the United States, 88 FR
12760 (Feb. 28, 2023), most AEWRs will continue to be based, as they have been since 1987, on
the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Labor Survey (FLS). The OEWSbased AEWRs apply to H-2A job opportunities classified: (1) in SOC codes other than the six
SOC codes comprising the field and livestock workers (combined) group, or (2) in the field and
livestock workers (combined) occupational group that are located in States or regions, or
equivalent districts or territories, for which the United States Department of Agriculture’s Farm
Labor Report (better known as the FLS) does not report a wage.2
The final rule, noted above, requires the OFLC Administrator to publish a Federal
Register Notice at least once in each calendar year to establish each set of AEWRs. See 20 CFR
655.120(b)(2). The OFLC Administrator provides this notice by publishing two separate
announcements in the Federal Register, one to update the AEWRs based on the wage data
reported by the USDA’s FLS, effective on or about January 1, and a second to update the
AEWRs based on data reported by the BLS OEWS survey, effective on or about July 1. See 88
FR at 12775.
OEWS-based AEWR Updates
In accordance with 20 CFR 655.120(b)(1)(ii), AEWRs for agricultural employment not
represented by the six SOC codes comprising the field and livestock worker (combined) group3
for which temporary H-2A certification is being sought is determined using the statewide annual

In the event an employer's job opportunity requires the performance of agricultural labor or services that are not
encompassed in a single SOC code's description and tasks, the applicable AEWR will be the highest AEWR for all
applicable SOCs. See 20 CFR 655.120(b)(5).
3 The FLS survey’s field and livestock workers (combined) category reports aggregate wage data for the following
six SOC titles and codes: Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse Workers (45–2092);
Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals (45–2093); Agricultural Equipment Operators (45–2091);
Packers and Packagers, Hand (53–7064); Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products (45–2041); and All Other
Agricultural Workers (45–2099).
average hourly gross wage for the SOC code for the State, or equivalent district or territory, as
reported by the OEWS survey. In the event the OEWS survey does not report an average hourly
gross wage for the SOC code for the State, or equivalent district or territory, the AEWR is
determined using the national average hourly gross wage for the SOC as reported by the OEWS
survey.
Using the most recently published OEWS survey,4 the OFLC Administrator is publishing
the statewide hourly AEWRs applicable to H-2A job opportunities classified using an SOC code
not included in the field and livestock workers (combined) group.5 The hourly AEWRs
determined under 20 CFR 655.120(b)(1)(ii) are available for each SOC code and geographic area
at the following URL: https://flag.dol.gov/wage-data/adverse-effect-wage-rates. At the URL,
DOL provides a searchable spreadsheet and other resources that enable interested parties to
search by State and SOC code for the OEWS-based AEWR applicable to an H-2A job
opportunity.
In addition, where the FLS survey does not report an annual average gross wage for the
field and livestock workers (combined) group in a State or region, or equivalent district or
territory, the AEWRs applicable to the field and livestock workers (combined) group is
established using the statewide annual average hourly gross wage for the field and livestock
workers (combined) group in the State, or equivalent district or territory, as reported by the
OEWS survey. See 20 CFR 655.120(b)(1)(i)(B). In the event the OEWS survey does not report a
statewide average hourly gross wage for the field and livestock workers (combined) group for
the State, or equivalent district or territory, the AEWR is determined using the national average
hourly gross wage for field and livestock workers (combined) group as reported by the OEWS
survey. See 20 CFR 655.120(b)(1)(i)(C).

See Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Report,
OEWS Databases (Apr. 3, 2024), available at https://www.bls.gov/oes/data.htm. Note that the 2024 OEWS report is
based on data from May 2023 OEWS estimates.
5 See 20 CFR 655.120(b)(1)(iii) (“For purposes of paragraphs (b)(1)(i) and (ii) of this section, the term State and
statewide include the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.”)
Using the most recently published OEWS survey, the OFLC Administrator is publishing
the hourly AEWRs applicable to H-2A job opportunities classified in the field and livestock
workers (combined) group, in States or regions, or equivalent districts or territories, where an
annual average hourly gross wage is not reported by the FLS. These hourly AEWRs are available
at https://flag.dol.gov/wage-data/adverse-effect-wage-rates and in the table below:
TABLE—ADVERSE EFFECT WAGE RATES FOR FIELD AND LIVESTOCK WORKERS
(COMBINED)
State/District/Territory AEWRs
Alaska

$19.52

District of Columbia

$22.23

Guam

$10.34

Puerto Rico

$9.94

U.S. Virgin Islands

$13.96

AUTHORITY: 20 CFR 655.120(b)(2); 20 CFR 655.103(b).

Manoach Lamarre,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, Labor.
[FR Doc. 2024-13809 Filed: 6/21/2024 8:45 am; Publication Date: 6/24/2024]