The US Department of Labour (DOL) has stated that it will extend the delay of a regulation that would raise the prevailing wage rates for H-1B and green card holders – this rule was set to take effect from May 14, 2021 (which itself was an extended date). “As per the new announcement, this date is extended by 18 months or until november 14, 2022. The start of the transition period for adjustments to the prevailing wage levels will commence in a phased manner only from january 2023,” explains Mitchell Wexler, partner at Fragomen, a global immigration law firm.
MUMBAI: Employers sponsoring H-1B workers, will be covered by the current wage rules and levels for almost the next two years. A transition phase to the new wage levels (yet to be finalised) will begin only on january 1, 2023, in a phased manner. Till date, US government agencies have used the Occupational Employment Statistics Report data from the Bureau of Labour Statistics to determine the appropriate wage rate by the job and region where the H-1B visa holder will be employed. As was reported by TOI earlier, DOL has also invited public comments to revise the computation of the prevailing wage levels. DOL states that it is delaying implementation to allow more time to fully analyse the legal and policy issues raised by the rule.
