WASHINGTON — A final rule amending H-2A temporary labor visas will be published in the Federal Register on Oct. 12. The US Department of Labor (DOL) said the amendment helps protect agricultural workers while updating the H-2A application and labor certification process.

“By improving H-2A program regulations, we are strengthening worker protections, meeting our core mission,” said Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh. “Today’s new rule makes several improvements to enhance the integrity of the H-2A program and provide employers and other stakeholders greater clarity.”

The new rule includes the following changes:

  • Improves safety and health protections for workers housed in rental or public accommodations. 
  • Streamlines and updates bond requirements for labor contractors to better hold them accountable and clarifies joint-employer status for employers and associations. 
  • Clarifies the housing certification process to allow state and local authorities to conduct housing inspections. 
  • Establishes explicit authority to debar attorneys and agents for their misconduct, independent of an employer’s violations. 
  • Makes electronic filing mandatory for most applications to improve employers’ processing efficiency.
  • Modernizes the methodology and procedures for determining the prevailing wage to allow state workforce agencies to produce more prevailing wage findings. 

After the DOL announced intentions of amending H-2A programs’ regulations in July 2019, many groups and stakeholders reached out with comments. In July 2021, the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) asked the Senate Judiciary Committee to extend the temporary work visas from seasonal to year-round employment.

“Current visa programs designed for seasonal agriculture – such as the H-2A visa – fail to meet the workforce needs of US pork producers and other year-round livestock farmers,” said Jen Sorenson, NPPC president, at the Senate hearing. “Now more than ever, we need a dedicated, year-round workforce.”

To help strengthen the agricultural workforce, the US Department of Agriculture invested $65 million in a new program that supports people hired from Northern Central American countries under the seasonal H-2A visa programs.