- The US Department of Labor proposes updating prevailing wages for H‑1B, H‑1B1, E‑3, and PERM workers.
- New four-tier wage structure raises average certified wages by ~$14,000 annually.
- Reforms aim to protect US workers and prevent low-wage hiring of foreign nation
The US Department of Labor has proposed a new reform to boost standard wage benchmarks for foreign workers in America. The new changes focus on the "prevailing wage," which is the minimum salary employers are legally required to offer workers under the H‑1B, H‑1B1, E‑3, and PERM programs.
The official comprehensive document, titled “Improving Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Foreign Nationals in the United States,” will be published on March 27. The final rules will be decided and implemented after reviewing the public comments on the document, which will be open for 60 days by the Department of Labor (DOL).
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The proposed law will ensure that the employment of foreign nationals does not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed US workers. By setting this floor, the Department of Labor maintains market standards while allowing firms to recruit specialized global talent.
What are the new wage levels?
Murthy Law Firm mentioned that the DOL is proposing to revise the four‑tier prevailing wage structure that employers must follow when sponsoring foreign national workers. The proposal aims to update the current wage levels, which have been in place for over 20 years, to prevent lower-wage hiring of foreign workers. Historically, the four levels have been set at roughly the 17th, 34th, 50th, and 67th percentiles of the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS).
To better reflect the U.S. labor market, the department recalibrated proposed wage levels to match the average pay of domestic workers in roles comparable to H‑1B positions. This shift is projected to drive up the average certified wage by approximately $14,000 per position annually, as per the issued notice.
| Wage Level | Competency Description | Current Percentile | Proposed Percentile |
| Level 1 | Entry Level | 17th | 34th |
| Level 2 | Qualified | 34th | 52nd |
| Level 3 | Experienced | 50th | 70th |
| Level 4 | Fully Competent | 67th | 88th |
Impacted Visa Categories
These changes directly affect employers sponsoring foreign nationals under the following programs:
H-1B: Specialty occupation workers (the most common high-skilled visa).
H-1B1: Specialized professionals specifically from Chile and Singapore.
E-3: Specialty occupation professionals specifically from Australia.
PERM: The labor certification process for EB-2 (Advanced Degree/Exceptional Ability) and EB-3 (Skilled Workers/Professionals) green card categories.
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What do the new reforms change?
The DOL noted, as per the Murthy Law Reform, “The existing wage levels, which have been in place for over 20 years, fail to adequately protect U.S. workers. According to the agency, the current methodology permits employers to hire foreign national workers at wage levels significantly below those paid to similarly employed U.S. workers, which the DOL argues creates an incentive to replace, rather than supplement, the domestic workforce. The DOL also points to evidence that major H‑1B program users have engaged in large-scale layoffs of US workers while continuing to hire foreign nationals at lower wage levels.”
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