In an announcement made Friday, May 29 the Department of Labor suspended reforms made to the H-2A regulations by the Bush Administration in December 2008 for a period of nine months, at which point the Department will either make the suspension permanent, or lift the suspension altogether.

"Friday's notification is the third modification of the H-2A program since December, and is only serving to exacerbate growing uncertainty over the availability of farm labor," said United Fresh vice president of government relations and legislative affairs Kam Quarles.

The regulations suspended pertain to the temporary employment and wage rates of H-2A-classified nonimmigrant workers in agricultural and logging capacities in the United States. This notification follows through on the Department's previous notification of intent to suspend those regulations on March 17 of this year. After the Department's initial notice, United Fresh filed comments that strongly opposed suspending these rules.

In making its ruling, the Department of Labor indicated that they received over 800 substantive comments on the previous notice of suspension. Due to the issues raised and the volume of comments, they previously announced in April that employers with "dates of need" through the end of 2009 would be afforded a transition period under the Bush Administration's reforms.

In addition to the H-2A revisions, the Obama Administration concurrently announced modifications to the Adverse Effect Wage Rate.

United Fresh will continue to push for a more functional and pragmatic solution to labor issues so that the entire produce industry may count on a reliable and steady workforce. For more information, please contact us at 202-303-3400, or click here.