Final Rule: Improving Protections for Workers in Temporary Agricultural Employment in the United States

Update: The U.S. Department of Labor (Department) has published the final rule, “Improving Protections for Workers in Temporary Agricultural Employment in the United States” (the “Farmworker Protection Rule”). The Farmworker Protection Rule is effective June 28, 2024. On August 26, 2024, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia issued a preliminary injunction order (“Order”) in the case Kansas, et al. vs. U.S. Department of Labor No. 2:24-cv-00076-LGW-BWC (S.D. Ga., Aug. 26, 2024) (“Kansas”) prohibiting DOL from enforcing the Farmworker Protection Rule in certain states and with respect to certain entities. The preliminary injunction specifically prohibits DOL from enforcing the Farmworker Protection Rule in the states of Georgia, Kansas, South Carolina, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, and against Miles Berry Farm and the members of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association as of August 26, 2024. DOL is complying with the preliminary injunction. For more information on the certification process, please visit our Announcements’ page at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/foreign-labor.

The U.S. Department of Labor (Department) has announced the issuance of a final rule, “Improving Protections for Workers in Temporary Agricultural Employment in the United States,” effective on June 28, 2024. The final rule strengthens protections for temporary agricultural workers by making several changes to H-2A program regulations to bolster the Department's efforts to prevent adverse effect on workers in the U.S. and ensure that H-2A workers are employed only when there are not sufficient 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.

Additional Information:

For additional information and resources, please visit the Wage and Hour Division’s website: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/agriculture/h2a/final-rule.