A bipartisan group of lawmakers is working to keep the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) from increasing further in 2023. Senators Jon Ossoff and Thom Tillis have introduced the Farm Operations Support Act to address increasing wages for the H-2A program. The legislation would set the AEWR to the December 2022 level for the remainder of the year. For the last nine years, the AEWR has progressively increased. The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) is encouraging Congress to act on the legislation, noting the AEWR has consistently been outpacing the overall U.S. employment cost index.
“Farmers are committed to paying their employees a fair wage, but the new AEWR rule used flawed data to reach a flawed conclusion. Requiring farmers to pay their workers far more than the average domestic worker is earning just makes no sense, especially in the face of high supply costs, inflation and a global food shortage,” AFBF President Zippy Duvall said in a news release. “I commend Sens. Ossoff and Tillis for standing up for farmers and urge Congress to pass this critical legislation.”
The introduction of the bill comes as new rules dictating wage rates are set to take effect on March 30. Multiple agricultural groups have criticized the latest wage rule, referring to it as “a disaster” while continuing to use a “flawed formula” as its basis. AFBF describes the Farm Operations Support Act as a means to keep employees fairly compensated without placing additional burden on farm employers.
“The wage rate farmers are required to pay by the Department of Labor has long outpaced the rate of inflation and become unsustainable,” said Senator Tillis. “This year’s increase has only exacerbated the current national labor crisis. While our farmers need broader programmatic reforms, this necessary legislation will give temporary relief to their rapidly rising input costs while maintaining worker pay and protections and allow U.S. farmers to continue doing what they do best.”
About the Author
