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
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 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
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
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 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
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
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
President Trump’s proposed budget released by the White House earlier this week contains no real surprises when it comes to the immigration provisions. The budget supports President Trump’s promises to increase immigration...more