Prevailing Wage Determinations and Job Openings for Foreign Workers
Summary:Prevailing Wage is the average wage for a specific job in a given area. Prevailing Wage Determinations set the minimum wage for foreign workers to ensure fair pay compared to U.S. workers. These determinations help reflect job market demand, guide visa decisions, and assist job seekers. Required for programs like H-2B, Permanent Labor Certification, and H-1B, employers obtain these rates from the National Prevailing Wage Center or other sources, paying the higher of the prevailing or actual wage.Prevailing Wage refers to the average or most common wage paid to workers in a specific occupation within a particular geographic area. This wage is determined based on factors like industry standards, local labor market conditions, and job requirements.
Prevailing Wage Determinations are official assessments made by government agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Labor, to establish the minimum wage that must be paid to foreign workers in specific job roles to ensure they are not paid less than similarly employed U.S. workers.
Reasons Prevailing Wage Determinations are good indicators for the foreign worker job market
1. Reflects Market Demand: They provide insights into which industries and occupations are in demand, as employers seeking to hire foreign workers must meet these wage standards.
2. Identifies Employment Trends: High or increasing prevailing wages in certain sectors can indicate growth or shortages in those fields, guiding foreign workers toward areas with higher job prospects.
3. Ensures Fair Compensation: They help ensure that foreign workers are compensated fairly, based on the local labor market, which can make U.S. jobs more attractive to skilled workers from abroad.
4. Guides Visa Decisions: For visa programs like the H-1B, employers must adhere to these wage standards. Thus, the number and types of prevailing wage determinations issued can reflect the demand for specific visas and job roles.
5. Helps Job Seekers: For foreign workers, understanding prevailing wage determinations can help them evaluate job offers and make informed decisions about potential employment opportunities in the U.S.
Programs Require a Prevailing Wage Determination
The H-2B Temporary Labor Certification application and the Permanent Labor Certification application may not be filed without a valid prevailing wage determination issued by the National Prevailing Wage Center (NPWC). For the H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 programs, a prevailing wage application may be submitted to the NPWC, or the employer may independently determine the prevailing wage at the time it files its Labor Condition Application. The NPWC does not issue prevailing wage determinations for the H-2A Temporary Agriculture Program.
Prevailing Wages Determination Process
Employers can obtain this wage rate by submitting a request to the National Prevailing Wage Center (NPWC), or by accessing other legitimate sources of information such as the Online Wage Library, available for use in some programs. The requirement to pay prevailing wages as a minimum is true of most employment-based visa programs involving the U.S. Department of Labor. In addition, the H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 programs require the employer to pay the prevailing wage or the actual wage paid by the employer to workers with similar skills and qualifications, whichever is higher. The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics has provided wage data collected under the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program for use in the foreign labor certification process since 1998.
