Breaking News: New Protections for Agricultural Workers Proposed

The U.S. Department of Labor has proposed new rules, Improving Protections for Workers in Temporary Agricultural Employment in the United States, to amend regulations affecting workers in the federal H-2A visa program. The H-2A program was established to help employers who anticipate a lack of available domestic workers to bring foreign workers to the U.S. to perform temporary or seasonal agricultural work.

The proposal includes provisions to:

• Enhance the department’s ability to monitor compliance and take enforcement actions against program violators.
• Protect workers regarding self-advocacy on working conditions and in cases of alleged employer retaliation.
• Clarify when a termination is for cause, for example, when a worker fails to meet productivity expectations or violates a company policy.
• Make foreign labor recruitment activities more transparent to address concerns regarding workers’ rights and trafficking.
• Update new wage rates as soon as they are published in the Federal Register rather than weeks later.
• Improve workers’ access to safe transportation, including use of seatbelts.

The proposal builds on a final rule the department published in October 2022. There is a 60-day comment period.