Department of Labor calls for H-2B changes

The Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed  to revise the methodology by which it calculates the prevailing wages paid to H–2B workers.

Comments must be received on or before Nov. 4, 2010.

 

From the Federal Register:

The proposed rule would establish that the prevailing wage will be the highest of the following: Wages established under an agreed-upon collective bargaining agreement (CBA); a wage rate established under the Davis-Bacon Act (DBA) or the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act (SCA) for that occupation in the area of intended employment; and the arithmetic mean wage rate established by the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) wage survey for that occupation in the area of intended employment. The employer would be required to pay the workers at least the highest of the prevailing wage as determined by the NPC, the federal minimum wage, the state minimum wage and the local minimum wage.

 

The proposed rule includes consideration of the use of DBA wages and SCA wages for those occupations for which wages have been determined under either of the two Acts for the area of intended employment. The Wage and Hour Division's DBA survey program has undergone a significant re-engineering effort in the last 7 years, resulting in a greatly improved and timely prevailing wage rate determination process. The wage determinations are maintained by type of public construction project (e.g., residential, building, highway, and heavy), and they are issued on a county-by-county basis. In addition, they include more detail for crafts (e.g., they distinguish between rates paid to a pipefitter who performs HVAC work and one who does not). Presently, SCA wage determinations are based upon BLS’ National Compensation Survey and OES survey data, and in some cases Federal employee data is also used.

For the rest of the proposed rule, go here.