The Department of Labor (“DOL”) submits an Interim Final Rule to the Office of the Federal Registrar. The rule changes current regulations by resulting in higher prevailing wages for all occupations according to the relevant wage level.
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”), employers must pay H-1B workers the greater of “the actual wage level paid by the employer to all other individuals with similar experience and qualifications for the specific employment in question,” or the “the prevailing wage level for the occupational classification in the area of employment.” The wage requirements are meant to guard against both wage suppression and the replacement of US workers by lower-cost foreign labor. This Final Rule changes the way in which DOL calculates the prevailing wage when based on the surveys. This will effectively increase the “required wage” associated with H-1B petitions.
The change in regulation takes effect on October 8, 2020. It does not apply to previously approved prevailing wage determinations. However, the changes brought by the Final Rule will be applied to applications that remain pending as of October 8, 2020 and those filed in the future.