Prevailing Wages under the Omnibus Bill Posted Dec 03, 2004 ©MurthyDotCom The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C. recently reported in a NewsFlash, posted on MurthyDotCom and to MurthyBulletin subscribers, that Omnibus Bill, H.R. 4818, had not yet been signed into law. The status of this Bill has not changed as it has still not been signed by the President. The exact language of the L-1 and H1B provisions, however, is now available. This is a more in-depth analysis of the prevailing wage provisions that were addressed in our Nov 22, 2004 NewsFlash, Omnibus Bill Not Yet Passed - H1Bs and L-1s to be Affected, available on MurthyDotCom. ©MurthyDotCom Prevailing Wages Calculation for Four Levels ©MurthyDotCom The name of the H1B section of the Bill is the H1B Visa Reform Act of 2004. As MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers may recall, the government must either provide a 4-wage level governmental survey, or a formula must be used to calculate the prevailing wage if only a 2-wage level governmental survey is available. The formulas to convert a 2-wage level governmental survey into a 4-wage level governmental survey are: ©MurthyDotCom New Level 2 : ((Current Level 2 minus Level 1) divided by 3) plus Level 1 ©MurthyDotCom New Level 3 : Current Level 2 minus ((current Level 2 minus Level 1) divided by 3) ©MurthyDotCom For example : The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Online Wage Library currently indicates that the prevailing wage for a Computer Programmer (OES Code 15-1021) in Baltimore County, Maryland, is $32,594 for Level 1 and $67,850 for Level 2. Since this is a 2-wage level survey, the formula must be applied. To obtain new Levels 2 and 3, the following calculations would have to be made: ©MurthyDotCom for New Level 2 :  (($67,850 minus $32,594) divided by 3) plus $32,594 equals $44,346 ©MurthyDotCom for New Level 3 : $67,850 minus (($67,850 minus $32,594) divided by 3) equals $56,098 ©MurthyDotCom Therefore, after the calculations, the 4-level determination for a Computer Programmer in Baltimore County, Maryland, becomes: Level 1, $32,594; Level 2, $44,346; Level 3, $56,098; and Level 4, $67,850. ©MurthyDotCom How to Determine the Various Levels ©MurthyDotCom The Bill does not explain how to determine the level that should apply to an individual. This presumably would be addressed in regulations if the Bill is passed into law and the Department of Labor (DOL) implements regulations for this provision of the law. It appears that this provision will also apply to permanent labor certifications as well as H1Bs. ©MurthyDotCom We at The Law Office of Sheela Murthy will continue to monitor this important legislation to determine whether or when it will go into effect. © 2004 The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C. All Rights Reserved
	Disclaimer : The information provided at this site is of a general nature and may not apply to any particular set of facts or under all circumstances. It should not be construed as legal advice and does not constitute an engagement of the Law Office of Sheela Murthy or establish an attorney-client relationship. Copyright : Documents from this site may be printed for personal use as long as the copyright notices are included on the print-outs and the documents are not modified or altered.