WASHINGTON – The Employment and Training Administration of the US Dept. of Labor finalized a rule that moves listings for temporary jobs in agriculture to a government website.

The rule also ends a requirement that all ag employers run print ads in newspapers before they can hire migrant labor to fill open positions. The Final Rule will be effective on Oct. 21, 2019, at 12:00 a.m. EDT.

“SeasonalJobs.dol.gov is a mobile-friendly and centralized online platform that will offer more robust and personalized search capabilities as well as information about agricultural job opportunities in a format that is compatible with third-party job-search websites,” the agency explained. “The department also seeks to leverage the existing localized services, knowledge, and expertise of State Workforce Agencies to promote awareness of H‑2A job opportunities.”

The H-2A temporary agricultural program allows employers in the agriculture industry to bring non-immigrant foreign workers to the United States to work on a temporary or seasonal basis. The program helps ag companies compensate for shortages of domestic workers.