The Department of Labor (DOL) announced its H-2A Transition Plan for updating its Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) system based on the preliminary injunction (known as the Kansas Order) issued by the U.S. District...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) has decided to delay updating its Foreign Labor Application Gateway, or FLAG, case processing system to implement revised H-2A job order and application forms for the new 2024 Farmworkers...more
The Beltway Buzz is a weekly update summarizing labor and employment news from inside the Beltway and clarifying how what’s happening in Washington, D.C., could impact your business....more
Seventeen states joined in a suit in June to block the Department of Labor (DOL) from enforcing its new rule providing more protections to farmworkers employed as H-2A temporary visa holders. Now, Judge Lisa Godbey Wood of...more
A federal judge in Georgia just blocked the Department of Labor’s “Farmworker Protection Rule” for employers in 17 states, providing a measure of relief for many agricultural employers but throwing many others into a state of...more
One of the most pressing issues facing seasonal businesses continues to be labor – specifically how to secure reliable employees to fill seasonal and permanent needs. Advertising does not always work and if you are lucky...more
Want to know more about the 2025 H-2A Visa Program? Besides reading the below deep dive, you can register for our September 10 webinar, where we'll discuss the 2025 process, employer obligations and compliance requirements,...more
The U.S. Department of Labor recently published its Final Rule, “Improving Protections for Workers in Temporary Agricultural Employment in the United States.” The Department of Labor first announced proposed regulatory...more
The U.S. Department of Labor just released a final rule that will expand employment protections for farmworkers in the H-2A visa program and enhance the agency’s capabilities to monitor and enforce program compliance. The DOL...more
There has recently been a flurry of new Federal Register notices issued by U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) relating to fees and reimbursements for a myriad of visa...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published its new immigration-related fines/penalties, effective January 15, 2024. Immigration-related violations before the DOL involve these visas: H-1B, H-2A, and H-2B. These increases...more
In early 2020, Alco Harvesting, LLC hired Jesus Guzman, a citizen of Mexico, to perform agricultural work in Santa Maria under the H-2A visa program. The H-2A visa program allows employers to hire foreign nationals to engage...more
The H-2A program plays a significant role in supporting the agricultural industry in the United States, including North Carolina. The program is instrumental because domestic labor often falls short in meeting the demands for...more
Our Agricultural Legislative & Public Policy Team examines another pair of proposed rules that would reform the H-2A program....more
Following reports of competing bills in the House and Senate, the U.S. government is potentially headed for a shutdown, which would begin on October 1, 2023, the beginning of the 2024 fiscal year. This would directly affect...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced that it is working to update and improve the protections available to H-2A workers. The proposed changes would include both worker protection measures and compliance and...more
Employers seeking to hire a non-US worker on a permanent basis are generally required to undertake a lengthy, complex sponsorship process involving both the Department of Labor (“DOL”) and the United States Citizenship and...more
On the heels of the new rule for the H-2A program impacting nonimmigrant agricultural workers that took effect late last year, the Department of Labor recently published a follow-up rule introducing the methodology that...more
Last week, the Department of Labor (DOL) finalized a new rule changing the methodology for how H-2A Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWRs) are determined. This rule will be effective on March 30, 2023, and will only apply to new...more
AILA recently reached out to the DOL's Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) with questions about long PERM prevailing wage determination and PERM application filing processing times. (AILA Doc. No. 22101212) - ...more
On October 12, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor published a final rule governing the H-2A agricultural non-immigrant visa program. The Labor Department has overseen the H-2A visa program since 2010 under the current...more
It’s hard to believe, but it is already time to start planning for your labor needs for Spring 2023. As we know, finding, hiring, developing, and retaining adequate labor resources are some of the most vexing challenges for...more
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes for the past few years—and this past month...more
The Department of Labor recently announced a proposal to change the methodology of the hourly Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) for temporary nonimmigrant agricultural workers in the H-2A Program for all occupations other than...more
What will the Department of Labor’s new proposal changing the methodology used to set the adverse effect wage rate in the H-2A visa program mean to agricultural employers? Members of our Agricultural Legislative & Public...more