Tag: H-2A Visa Program

Special Guest USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack to Join NCAE Webinar “Unpacking USDA’s Farm Labor Stabilization and Protection Pilot Program”

| Press Release, Uncategorized

October 13, 2023 

For Immediate Release

Contact:            Michael Marsh, President and CEO

                             (202) 629-9320

(Arlington, VA) The National Council of Agricultural Employers (NCAE) is pleased to announce a special installment of its educational webinar series focusing on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) new Farm Labor Stabilization and Protection Pilot Program (FLSP). The FLSP will award up to $65 million in grants to support agricultural employers in implementing robust labor standards on farms and ranches while facilitating lawful migration pathways through the H-2A temporary worker program.

The webinar will be led by Julie Kurtz, an agricultural economist in the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack will make a special guest appearance to encourage agricultural employers to take part in the FLSP. The webinar will begin at 3:00 pm ET/12:00 pm PT on Tuesday, October 17, 2023.

“Agricultural employers are keen to learn more about the Farm Labor Stabilization and Protection Pilot Grant Program,” noted Michael Marsh, President and CEO of NCAE.  “The webinar will cover and attempt to answer employer questions about the FLSP and how they might participate. NCAE is thrilled to host Secretary Vilsack on this important webinar. We encourage all agricultural employers to join us for this webinar to discover whether this Program might be a good opportunity for their operation.”

Registration for this important webinar is free, open to the public, and is available at ncaeonline.org.  Marsh noted, “Our webinars are extremely popular and typically fill up very quickly. Please register as soon as possible to ensure you secure your spot in this important discussion.”

NCAE is the national trade association focusing on agricultural labor issues from the employer’s viewpoint.

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NCAE Reveals Agenda for 10th Ag Employer Labor Forum

| Press Release, Uncategorized

October 10, 2023 

(Washington, D.C.) The National Council of Agricultural Employers (NCAE) announces that the highly anticipated agenda for its 10th Annual Ag Employer Labor Forum has been revealed. The event opens November 29th and runs through December 1st, 2023. The Forum is being held at the beautiful M Resort just outside Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Labor Forum will provide attendees with an opportunity to engage with industry leaders in in-depth discussions regarding the wide array of issues impacting agricultural employers.

“This year’s Labor Forum is shaping up to be the best yet with hot topics that agricultural employers cannot miss,” noted Michael Marsh, NCAE’s President and CEO. “We have stimulating speakers discussing timely topics for employers where attendees can receive continuing education credit from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).”

Attorneys, academics, agents, and representatives from federal agencies and foreign governments will be on hand to dive headfirst into labor issues facing US agricultural employers. Rulemaking changes, cutting edge reports on agricultural labor data and expert-led presentations on the latest legislation impacting farm and ranch operations will be highlighted, as will compliance issues relative to ag employment.

Also featured this year are concurrent sessions highlighting not only hot legal topics facing ag employers, tips to navigate the administration’s activist regulatory hammer, and compliance considerations for Farm Labor Contractors, but also how to responsibly recruit high quality employees in a cost-effective manner.

And, just for fun, the evening of the Forum’s first day will be topped off with a winetasting reception featuring premium Washington wines from Mercer Ranches. Attendees will have the opportunity to interact with the Forum’s many sponsors, network with other agricultural employers and unwind after a day filled with engaging speakers and information. The wines will be paired with delicious hors d’oeuvres for attendees to enjoy.

“With all of the activity in the agricultural labor space this year, this year’s Forum is an event not to miss,” stated Marsh.

To check out the tentative agenda and to register for this exciting event go to ncaeonline.org/events

NCAE is the national trade association focusing on agricultural labor issues from the employer’s viewpoint.

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NCAE Opens Registration for 10th Annual Ag Labor Forum

| Press Release, Uncategorized

September 11, 2023 

(Washington, D.C.) The National Council of Agricultural Employers (NCAE) announced today the opening of registration for the 10th Annual Ag Labor Forum which will be held November 29 – December 1, 2023, at the beautiful M Resort just outside Las Vegas, Nevada. Each year, NCAE’s event brings together key leaders in the agricultural employment and labor communities from across the United States and around the world.  

Attorneys, academics, agents, as well as representatives from federal agencies and foreign governments will delve into labor issues facing US agricultural employers. Recent litigation, rulemaking changes and reports on cutting edge legislation impacting farm and ranch operations nationwide will be highlighted, as will compliance issues relative to ag employment. 

NCAE has developed exciting new programming to help celebrate NCAE’s 10th Ag Labor Forum. This year’s speakers feature a diverse range of topics including how employers can protect themselves in the face of union activity, hot topics in ag labor safety, tax issues relative to ag employment and many others.

Also featured this year are concurrent sessions highlighting the H-2A Temporary Agricultural Visa Program. Attendees at these stimulating sessions, along with many others throughout the Forum, are eligible to receive continuing education credit from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). 

“Sponsorship opportunities are available for this event that reaches hundreds of attendees,” said Marsh. “Of course, NCAE Members receive a significant discount off registration fees. This event offers members and nonmembers both a “look under the hood” of the battles NCAE wages in Congress and with federal agencies on behalf of agricultural employers. This is a must-attend event!” 

Registration for the Labor Forum, H-2A Day and NCAE’s discounted room block, can be accessed by going to www.ncaeonline.org. 

NCAE is the national trade association focusing on agricultural labor issues from the employer’s viewpoint. 

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NCAE Challenges Adverse Effect Wage Rate Rule

| H-2A Visa Program Press Release, Press Release

April 24, 2023

(Washington, D.C.)

The National Council of Agricultural Employers (NCAE) filed a Motion for Preliminary Injunction against the Department of Labor’s (DOL) new Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) regulation, Friday evening, April 21, 2023.  The lawsuit alleges that the Secretary’s action in developing the regulation was arbitrary and capricious and an abuse of the Secretary’s discretion.   

“This regulation continues the DOL’s abusive practice of mandating minimum wages farmers and ranchers must pay under the Temporary H-2A Agricultural Program completely disconnected from the market for agricultural labor anywhere on the planet,” noted Michael Marsh, President and CEO of NCAE.  “Not only does the rule continue to misuse the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Labor Survey (FLS) to establish wage rates, but it also piles on farm and ranch families by requiring nonfarm wages drawn from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) for simple, routine, on farm activities, jobs which have been performed on American farms and ranches for generations.  Some farmworker wages will more than double under this new rule forcing family operations out of business.  And, of course, these mandated minimum wages impact all farm wages, whether employers use the program or not.”

The DOL received comments on this rulemaking from family farms and ranches located across the country raising concerns regarding the madness of the Secretary’s approach.  Commenters pointed out that the DOL’s regulations and its continued misuse of survey instruments not designed to capture actual agricultural wage rates were forcing America’s food production to flee to overseas competitors.  As a result of DOL’s ignoring the pleas of U.S. legacy farming operations, today more than 60% of the fresh fruit and more than 35% of the fresh vegetables consumed in the U.S. are being produced by overseas competitors.  Farm and ranch families, the Small Business Administration, economists, and others had warned the Secretary that such irresponsible action was putting America’s food security at risk—a concern seemingly ignored by the Secretary.

“NCAE has repeatedly petitioned the Secretaries of Labor to make a determination of an adverse effect to the domestic workforce due to the employment of H-2A workers prior to mandating devastating AEWRs.  Sadly, for America, the DOL has turned its back on commonsense and the American people.  The economic evidence overwhelmingly supports our cause and the fact that DOL’s estimates of cost impact are short by hundreds of millions, if not ultimately, billions of dollars!  These are incredible errors,” said Marsh.  “Having been slammed face first into the dirt by the Executive Branch, NCAE and our farm and ranch family members had no other choice than to turn to the Judiciary hoping the Court will hear and recognize the importance of our pleas for relief.”

The legal challenge is being brought in Federal District Court in Tampa, Florida, on behalf of NCAE and several named NCAE member plaintiffs.

NCAE is the national trade association focusing on agricultural labor issues from the employer’s viewpoint.

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NCAE Concerned Over New Wage Rule

| H-2A Visa Program Press Release, Press Release

February 28, 2023

(Washington, D.C.)

The National Council of Agricultural Employers (NCAE) raised grave concern over the issuance of a new wage rule for use in the H-2A Temporary Agricultural Worker Program published this morning. The regulation, which began its rulemaking journey in July 2019 during the Trump Administration, found its way to publication in the Federal Register today.


The new regulation would not only continue the Department of Labor’s (DOL) historic misuse of the USDA’s Farm Labor Survey to manufacture wage rates in the H-2A Program disconnected from the market for agricultural labor in the United States but also injects additional new wage rates into the program similarly disconnected from agriculture to compensate some workers for routine on-farm chores. The net effect of this new wage rule will push more of America’s food production offshore to foreign competition making American families even more dependent on foreign countries for food. Today more than 60% of the fresh fruit and more than 35% of the fresh vegetables consumed in the United States are produced offshore.


“The Department of Labor’s new wage rule is a disaster for American consumers and the farm and ranch families who toil every day to deliver bounty harvested from their legacy operations,” said Michael Marsh, President and CEO of the National Council of Agricultural Employers. “The Department is required by statute to establish wage rates under the H-2A Program that will not adversely effect the wages and working conditions of domestic workers similarly employed. This rule seeks to do that by throwing U.S. farm and ranch families under the bus!”


The National Council of Agricultural Employers has repeatedly petitioned Secretaries of the Department of Labor to hold hearings on the economics of this regulatory scheme but those petitions to the American government have been ignored. The Department of Agriculture has indicated that, “The Farm Labor Survey has been conducted for more than 80 years, using basically the same survey methods. It was not designed to be used as a source of wage rates for a guest worker program. Rather, it provides an accurate count of the numbers of persons employed in agriculture and the average wage rate across all skill levels and occupations.”


“With this new rule, American consumers can be confident in one thing, they will be more likely to find tomatoes in their grocery store grown in Mexico, than those grown in Florida, California, or Michigan. Similarly, consumers can count on finding blueberries, apples, and strawberries produced in Canada, but few selections grown in Georgia, New York, or Washington,” said Marsh. “A country forced to rely on others for its sustenance has forfeited a key element of its national security. America expects and deserves better than this!”


NCAE is working with legal counsel, economists, and Members of Congress to determine options and next steps forward.


NCAE is the national trade association focusing on agricultural labor issues from the employer’s viewpoint.
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H-2A Visa Program

Worker In Field Harvesting Potatoes

H-2A Visa Program

Why does the H-2A Visa Program matter?

The H-2A temporary agricultural worker visa program allows agricultural employers facing a shortage of domestic workers to bring nonimmigrant foreign workers to the U.S. to perform seasonal or temporary work.

When using temporary visa program for workers, agricultural employers must prepare well in advance, and are under strict scrutiny from the US Department of Labor and other regulatory agencies. Employers are frequently audited, so skilled preparation and execution becomes crucial.

Latest News in the H-2A Program

August 27, 2019. OFLC Announces New H-2A Application Forms and Schedule for Electronic Filing in the Foreign Labor Application Gateway System.

Read More

Data and Statistics of the H-2A Visa Program

84%

Increase in H-2A Visas Issued from 2015 to 2019

257,667

H-2A Positions Certified in FY19

6.14%

Increase in Number of H-2A Applications Received by OFLC from FY18 to FY19

Active Regulatory Reform For the H-2A Program

NCAE applauds the Trump Administration’s announcement on July 15th of its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to modernize and improve the H-2A temporary agricultural labor certification program.

According to the Department of Labor’s announcement, “These proposed changes would modernize the Department’s H-2A regulations in a way that is responsive to stakeholder concerns and enhances employer access to a legal source of agricultural labor, while maintaining the program’s protections for the U.S. workforce and enhancing enforcement against fraud and abuse.”

“We are very pleased the Administration has agreed to roll out this much needed modernization effort for the H-2A program. It is obvious, based upon the 489 pages included, the deep dive that was done by the agencies in their effort to evolve the program to one more responsive to the needs of stakeholders,” said Michael Marsh, President and CEO of NCAE.

According to the Department, the wide-ranging rulemaking will streamline the application process and strengthen protections for U.S. and foreign workers. The rule also looks to update methodologies used to determine Adverse Effect Wage Rates while addressing many other issues.

Marsh noted, “The breadth of this proposed rule is substantial. NCAE will be working with its committees, members and legal counsel to develop targeted, cogent comments to provide to the Department. This type of hefty rulemaking doesn’t come around often. Our sleeves are rolled up and we’re raring to go!”.

Latest News on the H-2A Visa Program

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