As previously reported, the 2021 Adverse Effect Wage Rate (Minimum wage for H-2A employers) was delayed due to legal activity over a proposed rule in the waning days of the Trump administration. The USDA wage survey results were released on Feb 11. Tomorrow the DoL will publish the AEWR for 2021 with the wages effective immediately upon publication.
What does this mean? If you don’t hire H-2A workers, then it doesn’t mean anything. If you are currently working H-2A employees then they and your corresponding domestic employees will need to be paid the new wage. If you don’t have any H-2A or won’t until the harvest season, the new wages will need to be paid for 2021.
Wages for 2021 are below.
| State | 2021 AEWR |
| AL | $11.81 |
| FL | $12.08 |
| GA | $11.81 |
| NC | $13.15 |
| SC | $11.81 |
| VA | $13.15 |
Your agent or contractor that you work with will be sending this information to you soon if they haven’t already but we wanted to make sure you had it for planning purposes.
DSF