The Federal District Court in North Carolina on Monday blocked the Obama Administration's suspension of reforms to the nation's H-2A program put in place last December. Judge William Osteen sided with the plaintiffs, a group of labor providers, users and associations and issued a preliminary injunction preventing the administration's action. Therefore, the rules announced in December, with an effective date of January 17th, remain in effect.

The Bush Administration reforms modified the existing (and unreasonably stringent) timeframes involving the petition process, as well as the interim period that a guest worker can be out of work while remaining in the U.S. Additionally, a new calculation for determining the appropriate wage rates for the employees was implemented. This involves specific information from over 500 localities, instead of the 18 regions that the program previously utilized.

The H-2A program was also tightened in a variety of areas. Employers must notify authorities immediately when H-2A workers fail to meet certain conditions of employment or are terminated. Also, only workers from certain approved countries can be hired under the program. Employers are also incentivized to use the E-Verify program. For workers that have exhausted their eligible time in the U.S., enhanced biographic and biometric information will be required at certain participating ports-of-entry when they depart the U.S. for their mandatory time out of country.

This week's injunction, while temporary, marks the fourth change in direction for those reforms since December. United Fresh filed comments strongly opposing the Obama Administration's intent to overturn those reforms.

"With each conflicting notification, users of the program are subjected to greater uncertainty and unintentional bureaucratic errors or failure to secure an adequate workforce become more likely," said Kam Quarles, United’s vice president of government relations and legislative affairs.