DOL Discontinues H-2B Prevailing Wage Determinations Based on Employer-Provided Wage Surveys
The Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification recently announced that effective December 8, 2014, the Department is no longer issuing prevailing wage determinations (PWDs) in the H-2B program based on employer-provided wage surveys. The Department took this action in response to a court order entered December 5, 2014, in Comite de Apoyo a los Trabajadores Agricolas et al v. Solis, No. 14-3557 (3d Cir.). The court’s order vacated a portion of the H-2B wage rule (20 CFR § 655.10(f)) and 2009 wage guidance permitting the use of such surveys.
The Department said that PWD requests pending with the National Prevailing Wage Center (NPC) that seek to use employer-provided surveys will be given the appropriate Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) wage for the occupation. Employers who wish to use a Service Contract Act or Davis Bacon Act wage determination, or a wage based on a collective bargaining agreement, may request redetermination under 20 CFR § 655.10(g). Employers whose prevailing wage determination was based on an employer provided-wage survey, but whose H-2B applications for temporary employment certification have not yet resulted in a final determination by the Chicago NPC, will be notified of their new wage obligation along with their certification letters.
