On July 1, 2022, the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) will publish the latest prevailing wage data from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) as generated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for July 2022 through June 2023 | Flag.dol.gov

On July 1, 2022, the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) will publish the latest prevailing wage data from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) as generated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for July 2022 through June 2023

OFLC intends to implement the 2018 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes at the same time.  The Foreign Labor Application Gateway will be unavailable from 8:00pm to midnight ET on June 30, 2022, to deploy the following technical changes in support of the wage and 2018 SOC update.

H-2B applications submitted on the Form ETA-9142B

  • Applications in process submitted with a 2010 SOC will be processed with the 2010 SOC, unless a modification to the SOC is required.
  • Applications submitted with a 2010 SOC that require an SOC modification, will be updated to the most appropriate 2018 SOC.
  • Initiated applications linked to a Prevailing Wage Determination (PWD) will not be modified to the 2018 SOC.  The 2010 SOC on the issued PWD will pre-populate Section B.2 SOC Code and Section B.3 SOC Occupation Title.
    • Filers who manually change the data in Sections B.2-3 will be required to choose the most appropriate 2018 SOC.
    • Filers may relink the PWD issued with the 2010 SOC codes to re-populate the 2010 SOC code.
  • Applications linked to a PWD issued with a 2018 SOC code, will be pre-populated with the 2018 SOC.

H-2A applications submitted on the Form ETA-9142A

  • Applications in process submitted with a 2010 SOC will be processed with the 2010 SOC, unless a modification to the SOC is required.
  • Applications submitted with a 2010 SOC that require an SOC modification, will be updated to the most appropriate 2018 SOC.
  • Initiated applications with an entry in Section E.1 SOC Occupational Code and Section E.2 SOC Occupation Title will be modified to delete Section E.1-2 entries.   
  • Filers will be required to re-enter the most appropriate 2018 SOC.

H-2A Agricultural Clearance Orders submitted on the Forms ETA-790/790A

  • Applications in process will be assigned the most appropriate 2018 SOC code.
  • All clearance orders issued with a 2010 SOC will remain valid for linking to an H-2A temporary labor certification.
  • All clearance orders issued after July 1, 2022, will be assigned the most appropriate 2018 SOC.
  • Filers who reuse a previously submitted application to create a new application, will be unaffected by this change.

CW-1 Temporary Labor Certifications submitted on the Form ETA-9142C

  • Applications in process submitted with a 2010 SOC will be processed with the 2010 SOC, unless a modification to the SOC is required.
  • Applications submitted with a 2010 SOC that require an SOC modification, will be updated to the most appropriate 2018 SOC.
  • Initiated applications linked to a Prevailing Wage Determination (PWD) will not be modified to the 2018 SOC. The 2010 SOC on the issued PWD will pre-populate Section E.a.1 SOC Occupational Code and Section E.a.2. 
    • Filers who manually change the data in Sections E.a.1-2 will be required to choose the most appropriate 2018 SOC.
    • Filers may relink the PWD issued with the 2010 SOC codes to re-populate the 2010 SOC code.
  • Applications linked to a PWD issued with a 2018 SOC code, will be pre-populated with the 2018 SOC.

H-1B applications submitted on the Form ETA-9035

  • Applications in process submitted with a 2010 SOC will be processed with the 2010 SOC.
  • Initiated applications with a worksite entered in Section F, will be modified to remove the worksite information.
  • Initiated applications with entries in Section B.2 SOC (ONET/OES code) and B.3 SOC (ONET/OES) occupation title, will be modified to remove the entries.
  • Filers will be required to choose the most appropriate 2018 SOC for all applications submitted after July 1, 2022.
  • Filers who reuse a previously submitted application to create a new application, will be required to enter the most appropriate 2018 SOC code.

Prevailing Wage applications submitted on the Form ETA-9141

  • Applications in process submitted with a 2010 SOC that are issued on July 1, 2022, or later, will be issued with the most appropriate 2018 SOC.
  • Applications submitted on July 1, 2022, or later, will require the 2018 SOC for Section F.d.1 Suggested SOC (ONET/OES code) and F.d.2 Suggested SOC (ONET/OES) occupation title.
  • Filers who reuse a previously submitted application to create a new application, will be required to enter the most appropriate 2018 SOC in Sections F.d.1-2.

Prevailing Wage applications submitted on the Form ETA-9141C

  • Applications in process submitted with a 2010 SOC that are issued on July 1, 2022, or later, will be issued with the most appropriate 2018 SOC.
  • Applications submitted on July 1, 2022, or later, will require the 2018 SOC for Section D.2 Suggested SOC (ONET/OES code) and D.2a Suggested SOC (ONET/OES) occupation title. 

PERM Applications submitted on the Form ETA-9089

  • Applications in process submitted with a 2010 SOC will be processed with the 2010 SOC.
  • Applications submitted on July 1, 2022, or later, will accept the 2018 SOC for sections F.2-3.
  • Filers should select the SOC assigned in Section G of the PWD.