The U.S. Department of Labor announced the issuance of a final rule, “Improving Protections for Workers in Temporary Agricultural Employment in the United States,” effective on June 28th, 2024. The rule targets vulnerability and abuses experienced by workers under the H-2A program that undermine fair labor standards for all farmworkers in the U.S.
The H-2A program allows employers to hire temporary foreign workers when the department determines there is a lack of able, willing, and qualified U.S. workers to perform the agricultural labor or services, and that employing temporary labor will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers.
The final rule strengthens protections for temporary agricultural workers by making several changes to H-2A program regulations and ensures that H-2A workers are employed only when there are not sufficient amounts of able, willing, and qualified U.S. workers available to perform the work.
These changes include empowering workers to advocate on behalf of themselves and their coworkers regarding working conditions; improving accountability for employers using the H-2A program; improving transparency and accountability in the foreign labor recruitment process; requiring seat belts in most vehicles used to transport workers; enhancing existing enforcement provisions; improving transparency into the nature of the job opportunity by collecting additional information about owners, operators, managers, and supervisors to better enforce program requirements; clarifying when a termination is “for cause” to protect essential worker rights; and revising provisions and codifying protections that are outdated, unclear, or subject to misinterpretation in the current regulations.
The final rule also strengthens protections for temporary agricultural workers when employers fail to properly notify workers that the start date of work is delayed, and clarifies and streamlines procedures to prevent noncompliant employers from using the Employment Service.
For more information on the new rule, visit https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/foreign-labor/farmworker-protection-final-rule
