#WorkforceWednesday: SCOTUS in Review, Biden Acts to Limit Non-Competes, NY HERO Act Model Safety Plans - Employment Law This Week®
#WorkforceWednesday: Mandatory Vaccination, Tipped Worker Rule, and SCOTUS Rules Against Organized Labor - Employment Law This Week®
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
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
The Supreme Court’s recent landmark ruling that gives employers a powerful tool to fight back against regulatory overreach will have a broad impact on just about every area of workplace law – and every industry. We’re looking...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
California employers in the agriculture industry are facing challenges this spring after two major developments last month. First, new rules took effect requiring employers to provide a special written notice to H-2A...more
A federal judge in New York recently cast doubt on the validity of state laws that seek to restrict employer speech in connection with union organizing. In New York State Vegetable Growers Association, Inc. v. Letitia James,...more
Since 2011, the Wage Theft Prevention Act has required California employers to provide certain written information to new employees at the time of hiring and within seven days of any change. The Labor Commissioner provides a...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
Our Agricultural Legislative & Public Policy Team examines another pair of proposed rules that would reform the H-2A program....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
On June 1, 2023, a panel of judges for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that berry distributors were not liable as “client-employers” of agricultural workers. The plaintiff agricultural workers...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
On March 13, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed rule that would update the pesticide Application Exclusion Zone (AEZ) requirements under the 2015 Agricultural Worker Protection Standard...more
On February 6, 2023, California’s Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board (OSHAB) held that employers must provide their outdoor workers with drinking water at a location “as close as practicable,” effectively creating a...more
The Agricultural Labor Relations Board recently published an overview on AB 2183, the monumental “card check” legislation passed last year that makes it far easier for California agricultural workers to organize into unions....more
The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar kicked off on November 20, 2022, in a special late fall edition of the quadrennial tournament—highlighting the dangers of high-heat work environments. Typically held in June and July, the 2022...more
On Sept. 30, 2022, State Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon announced that she has accepted the New York Farm Laborers Wage Board’s recommendation to lower the overtime threshold for agricultural workers from 60 hours down to...more
Governor Newsom just approved “card check” legislation making it far easier for California workers to organize into unions and creating headaches for agricultural employers in the state. Newsom’s signature on September 28...more
On August 12, 20222, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a citation to a farm labor contractor alleging violations for exposing workers to high ambient outdoor heat following the death of a worker...more
California agricultural employers are in for a whirlwind month ahead as labor advocates and farmworker unions are once again demanding Governor Newsom pass the infamous “card check” bill. If signed, this bill would make it...more
Eight months of legislative wrangling and dealmaking have come to an end as the California Legislature just wrapped up work for the year – and now employers across the Golden State turn their eyes to the governor’s office to...more
A new decision by the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board increases the stakes for employers who are found to have willfully misclassified its employees, as the Board deployed a powerful weapon in its arsenal for...more
Agricultural employers are often at the mercy of nature which causes constant fluctuations in labor needs. Given the unique nature of the agricultural industry, their workers have historically been exempt from minimum wage...more
In 2020, just before the pandemic hit, Bennett Jones Agribusiness, Food and Beverage practice group wrote about trends in agribusiness, namely AgTech, ESG and Export and Trade. After two years, the Bennett Jones Agribusiness...more
California agricultural employers are in for a turbulent season as labor advocates and the farmworkers union are once again pushing to institute the infamous “card check” organizing system – which would make it far easier for...more