Summary: DOL Proposed Rule on Prevailing Wages for Foreign Workers

Written By Diane Rish

27 March 2026

The Department of Labor published this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on March 27, 2026, proposing to raise the prevailing wage floors that U.S. employers must pay when hiring foreign workers through the H-1B, H-1B1, E-3, and PERM programs.

There is a 60 – day comment period: Submit comments before May 26, 2026: regulations.gov Docket # ETA-2026-0001

The Core Change The proposal shifts how wage levels are calculated using BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) data:

LEVEL Current Percentile Proposed Percentile

I (Entry) ~17th 34th

II ~34th 52nd

III ~50th 70th

IV (Senior) ~67th 88th

We will be developing a more In-depth Insight document to evaluate this rule soon.

Diane Rish
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