Department of Labor Sets Wage Rates

The Department of Labor has announced the new Adverse Effect Ware Rates (AEWR) for 2005, which are the minimum hourly wages that must be offered and paid to temporary or seasonal US and alien workers under the H-2A agricultural or H-2 logging worker categories. They also announced the new rates for what employers may charge these workers for three meals a day and transportation, if those are provided. The AEWRs are based on the prevailing wage rates in the area of intended employment and are meant to protect the wage rates of similarly employed US workers. In several of the higher wage states, these new numbers are causing problems, especially Ohio where the AEWR is now set for $9.20. The range goes from a low of $7.63 in Arizona and New Mexico to a high of $9.75 in Hawaii.