If finalized, these changes could substantially increase the minimum salaries employers must pay when sponsoring foreign workers.

Employers should begin preparing now to understand how the new wage methodology may affect hiring, workforce planning, and immigration costs. The prevailing wage is the minimum salary an employer must offer for certain employment-based immigration filings, including:

• H-1B specialty occupation petitions

• PERM labor certification applications

• H-1B1 and E-3 visa petitions

The Department of Labor uses wage levels based on an employee's experience, education, and job duties. These wage levels help ensure that hiring foreign workers does not adversely affect the wages of U.S. workers.

Under the proposed rule, the DOL would increase the wage percentiles used to calculate prevailing wages:

• Level I: from the 17th percentile to the 34th percentile

• Level II: from the 34th percentile to the 52nd percentile

• Level III: from the 50th percentile to the 70th percentile

• Level IV: from the 67th percentile to the 88th percentile

These increases could result in significantly higher required salaries for many sponsored positions, particularly entry-level and mid-level roles.

Companies may need to adjust compensation packages and hiring budgets to remain compliant with the new prevailing wage requirements. Organizations planning to hire foreign professionals should evaluate future recruiting strategies how this may affect recruitment efforts during the PERM labor certification process, making planning even more important.