Data / Federal rules / 2025-19365

Adverse Effect Wage Rate Methodology for the Temporary Employment of H-2A Nonimmigrants in Non-Range Occupations in the United States

The Employment and Training Administration published this final rule in the Federal Register on October 2, 2025. It took effect on October 2, 2025. Comments closed on December 1, 2025.

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What the agency says

The Department of Labor (Department or DOL) is issuing this interim final rule (IFR) 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 is revising the methodology for determining the hourly Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWRs) for non-range occupations by using wage data reported for each U.S. state and territory by the Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey. For the vast majority of H-2A job opportunities, the Department will use OEWS survey data to establish AEWRs applicable to five Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes combining the most common field and livestock worker occupations previously measured by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Farm Labor Survey (FLS), which covered six SOC codes. These AEWRs will be divided into two skill-based categories to account for wage differentials arising from qualifications contained in the employer's job offer. For all other occupations, the Department will use the OEWS survey to determine two skill-based AEWRs for each SOC code to reflect wage differentials. The threshold determination for assigning the SOC code(s) and applicable skill-based AEWR will be based on the duties performed for the majority of the workdays during the contract period and qualifications contained in the employer's job offer. Finally, to address differences in compensation between most U.S. workers and H-2A workers who receive employer-provided housing at no cost, the Department will implement a standard adjustment factor to the AEWR to account for this non-monetary compensation that employers will apply when compensating H-2A workers under temporary agricultural labor certifications.

Key facts

Document number

2025-19365

Type

Final rule

Action

Interim final rule, request for comments

Agency

Labor Department; Employment and Training Administration

Published

October 2, 2025

Takes effect

October 2, 2025

Comments due

December 1, 2025

Dates

This rule is effective October 2, 2025. Interested persons are invited to submit written comments on this rule on or before December 1, 2025.

Docket

DOL Docket No. ETA-2025-0008

Regulation ID (RIN)

1205-AC24

Code of Federal Regulations

20 CFR 655

Topics

Administrative practice and procedure; Employment; Forests and forest products; Fraud; Health professions; Immigration; Labor; Passports and visas; Penalties; Reporting and recordkeeping requirements; Wages

Significant

Yes, under Executive Order 12866

Pages

50

The document on federalregister.gov PDF

Other documents from the Employment and Training Administration

Everything from the Employment and Training Administration · Rules on administrative practice and procedure · Rules on employment · Rules on forests and forest products · Published in October 2025

Read from the Federal Register API, last updated 2026-10-23. The document on federalregister.gov is the official record; dates and dockets can change through later corrections. Free to reuse with credit to SpecStream under CC BY 4.0.