H-2A Wage Rate updated January 1, 2024
The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) has published Federal Register notices (FRN) announcing the new H2-A Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWR) for herding or production of livestock on the range for the H-2A program and for the employment of non-range H-2A job opportunities classified within one or more of the six common Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes that comprise the Farm Labor Survey (FLS) field and livestock workers (combined) category.
The AEWR is the minimum wage rate the Department of Labor 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 of workers in the United States similarly employed will not be adversely affected.
Important Note: 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.
For California, the 2024 AEWR to be offered, advertised in recruitment, and paid for agricultural work performed by H–2A and workers in corresponding employment on and after January 1, 2024, is set forth as follows:
California: $19.75/hour
H-2A employers are required to pay the highest of the following: the AEWR, the agreed-upon collective bargaining wage, the Federal minimum wage, the State minimum wage, or the Prevailing Wage. Earlier in 2023, the California Employment Development Department (EDD) submitted a new Domestic Agricultural In-Season Wage Report to the Department of Labor where they determined the new Prevailing Wage for H-2A agricultural workers engaged in general vineyard work (everything leading up to harvest) is $19.65 for workers in the North Coast wage reporting area which includes: Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Sonoma, and Trinity counties. This Prevailing Wage was higher than last year’s AEWR ($18.65), so employers in those counties were required to pay the higher prevailing wage of $19.65 to their H-2A workers and their domestic workers in corresponding employment.
Now that the AEWR has increased to $19.75, it remains to be seen whether the EDD will once again increase the Prevailing Wage for general vineyard work in the North Coast. The Department of Labor posts prevailing wage rates approved by the OFLC Administrator and encourages employers to check the prevailing wage information posted in the Agricultural Online Wage Library when preparing a Form ETA-790A, H-2A Agricultural Clearance Order for submission, and periodically after receiving temporary labor certification, to determine the current prevailing wage rate applicable to the employer’s job opportunity.
Employers do not officially have to pay the new rate until they have received notice from the Chicago National Processing Center but the new wage rate is retroactive to the date it went into effect. Instead of waiting for notice, you should start paying this rate immediately to avoid having to correct wage statements.
Please give Rosasco Law Group a call with any questions you may have about this and all other 2024 changes. We know the complexities can be challenging, so we are here to help.
