Farmworkers Granted New Rights Through Labor Departments Latest H-2A Ruling
In 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) proposed changes to its H-2A programs — a measure allowing agricultural employers to hire nonimmigrant foreign workers to carryout seasonal or temporary work.
Advocacy groups, including Farmworker Justice, claim working and housing conditions for H-2A employees are often cramped, unsanitary and pest-ridden, which is why the changes were brought to the DOL’s table.
Testimony heard by the department through “tens of thousands” of comments, as well as a roundtable on Thursday, led the DOL to adopt the proposed changes considered in 2019.
Marty Walsh, U.S. secretary of labor, says his team will be dedicated to protecting farmworkers and ensuring they have the stage to voice their rights.
“No matter where you were born or how you arrived in the United States, you have rights: You have the right to work safely and the right to be paid all of the wages you are owed by law,” he says.
The 594-page changes to H-2A include:
1. Safety and health improvements for housed workers
2. Updated bond requirements for labor contractors
3. State and local authority inspections of employee housing
4. Repercussions for attorney and agent misconduct with employers and employees
5. All-electronic application process
6. New methods to determine adequate employee wages and to ensure employees are paid properly
While the new H-2A rules don’t include any immediate changes to hourly wages, a wage increase is likely on the horizon.
H-2A Downfalls for Producers
Catherine Watts of Labor Services International says the H-2A’s Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) is often a moving target hit at different levels in different states each year.
“Labor costs are really unpredictable for producers because that AEWR wage does change every year around December and producers are expected to implement that wage change by January,” Watts says. “Farmers are cost takers, not price setters. A $1 mandatory wage increase can make or break an operation.”
With price fluctuations in various states each year, competition can run rampant, according to Watts.
In North Carolina, where Watts is, the wage is roughly $14 per hour. However, South Carolina and other surrounding states offer an even lower wage, making it difficult for them to compete.
Watts says some of her clients hope the DOL will write its H-2A rules in cement rather than sand, as it takes a lot of time to get involved with the program, let alone learn it.
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