Farmworkers are an essential part of our food supply but are highly vulnerable to exploitation. The H-2A program helps farmers hire people from other countries to lawfully work in the U.S. when there are not sufficient workers who are able, willing, qualified, and available in the U.S. to perform the agriculture work. But sometimes these H-2A workers face problems like not getting paid enough or even being treated badly.
Many U.S. Department of Labor (“Department”) investigations have found that farmworkers faced wage theft, abuse, and retaliation. In 2022, over 400 DOL investigations found that agricultural employers owed workers over $3.6 million in unpaid wages. The Department also assessed over $6.3 million in civil money penalties for breaking labor laws that year.
On April 26, 2024, the Department announced that it issued the Farmworker Protection Rule (the “Rule”) to help address those problems. This Rule helps ensure farmworkers are treated more fairly and that the H-2A program works the way it's supposed to.
The reforms include more protections for farmworkers to advocate for themselves, clarification when a termination is “for cause”, more job opportunities and transparency in labor recruitment, updates to the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) to ensure they are paid at least the AEWR in effect when the work is performed, seat belt requirements in most vehicles, protections to help prevent human trafficking and labor exploitation, protections for workers in the event of a delay in the start of work and new compensation obligations when their employers fail to provide timely notice and procedures for when state workforce agencies must stop providing services to employers that fail to comply with the Rule’s requirements.
The final rule becomes effective on June 28, 2024.