The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) announced the 2021 Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWR) for hiring temporary foreign workers (H-2A workers) for agricultural jobs, not including livestock herding. The AEWR sets the minimum wage employers must pay to ensure U.S. workers' wages are not negatively impacted. The announcement follows a court order requiring the Department to publish these rates by a specific deadline. The current 2021 rates are based on data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's 2020 Farm Labor Report and are effective immediately.
Simple Explanation
In 2021, the Department of Labor said how much money farmers must pay workers from other countries who come to help with farming, to make sure it is fair and doesn't make local workers get paid less. They had to do this because a court told them it was important and needed to be done right away.