DOL Raises H-2A Range Occupation Wage Rate to $2,132.41 per Month
Published Jan 20, 2026Effective Feb 3, 2026
The Department of Labor has announced the annual update to the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) for H-2A workers who herd or produce livestock on the range. The new monthly rate is $2,132.41, up from $2,058.31, based on a 3.6 percent Employment Cost Index adjustment.
Key points
- The AEWR is the minimum wage DOL requires employers to offer, advertise and pay H-2A range workers and workers in corresponding employment.
- The new monthly AEWR for range occupations nationwide is $2,132.41, calculated from the prior year's rate adjusted by a 3.6 percent Employment Cost Index increase.
- Employers must pay range workers at least the highest of several wage sources listed in the regulations, including this AEWR.
- The notice takes effect on February 3, 2026, and applies to work performed on or after that date.
- This is a routine annual update required under a wage methodology DOL established in 2015.
Who is affected
Agricultural employers certified or seeking certification to employ H-2A range workers, such as sheep and goat herders, and the H-2A workers themselves.
What to do
Employers with active or pending H-2A range worker petitions should update pay practices to meet or exceed the new $2,132.41 monthly AEWR by the February 3, 2026 effective date.
Full text
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Department of Labor
Employment and Training Administration
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 Rate (AEWR) for the employment of temporary or seasonal nonimmigrant foreign workers (H-2A workers) to perform herding or production of livestock on the range. AEWRs are the minimum wage rates the 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 annual update of the AEWR for workers engaged in the herding or production of livestock on the range, as required by the methodology previously established in 2015.
DATES:
February 3, 2026.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Brian Pasternak, Administrator, Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC), by email at [email protected].
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. See8 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.
Adverse Effect Wage Rate
DOL's H-2A regulations covering the herding or production of livestock on the range, published in the Federal Register as the Temporary Agricultural Employment of H-2A Foreign Workers in the Herding or Production of Livestock on the Range in the United States,80 FR 62958 (Oct. 16, 2015), provide that employers must offer, advertise in recruitment, and pay each worker employed under 20 CFR 655.200 through 655.235 a wage that is at least the highest of the various wage sources listed in § 655.211(a)(1), including the monthly AEWR. See20 CFR 655.210(g). Further, when the monthly AEWR is adjusted during a work contract, and is higher than both the agreed-upon collective bargaining wage and the applicable minimum wage imposed by Federal or State law or judicial action in effect at the time the work is performed, the employer must pay at least that adjusted monthly AEWR upon publication by DOL in the Federal Register . See20 CFR 655.211(a)(2).
As provided in 20 CFR 655.211(c)(2), the monthly AEWR for range occupations in all States for a calendar year is based on the monthly AEWR for the previous calendar year ($2,058.31), adjusted by the Employment Cost Index (ECI) for wages and salaries published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the preceding annual period. The 12-month change in the ECI for wages and salaries of private industry workers between September 2024 and September 2025 was 3.6 percent, resulting in a monthly AEWR for range occupations in effect for the following year of $2,132.41.[1] The national monthly AEWR rate for all range occupations in the H-2A program is calculated by multiplying the monthly AEWR for the previous year by ( printed page 2374) the October 2025 ECI adjustment ($2,058.31 × 1.036 = $2,132.41) or $2,132.41. Accordingly, any employer certified or seeking certification for range workers must pay each worker a wage that is at least the highest of the various wage sources listed in § 655.211(a)(1), including the monthly AEWR of $2,132.41, at the time work is performed on or after the effective date of this notice.
(Authority: 20 CFR 655.211(b))
Henry Maklakiewicz,
Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, Labor.
Footnotes
1. The regulation at 20 CFR 655.211(c)(2) states that the monthly AEWR is calculated based on the ECI for wages and salaries “for the preceding October-October period.” This regulatory language was intended to identify the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) October publication of ECI for wages and salaries, which presents data for the September to September period. Accordingly, the most recent 12-month change in the ECI for private sector workers published on December 10, 2025, by BLS was used for establishing the monthly AEWR under the regulations. See https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/eci_12102025.pdf. The ECI for private sector workers was used rather than the ECI for all civilian workers given the characteristics of the H-2A herder workforce.
Back to Citation
[FR Doc. 2026-00906 Filed 1-16-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-FP-P
Original title: Labor Certification Process for the Temporary Employment of Foreign Workers in Agriculture in the United States: Adverse Effect Wage Rate for Range Occupations
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