Ag News

Labor Department halts rule following injunction in GFVGA case

On Aug. 26, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia issued a preliminary injunction in the case Kansas, et al. vs. U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), prohibiting DOL from enforcing the Farmworker Protection Rule in certain states and with respect to certain entities.

“We feel that the DOL action to suspend implementation was a prudent decision,” said Georgia Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association Executive Vice President Chris Butts. “The H-2A program is complex enough as it is without having to implement one set of rules for growers in 33 states while growers in the 17 states included in the injunction would be subject to different rules. We can now focus on the core of our case, that the rule was an overreach to begin while knowing that growers nationwide will not be held to comply with rules the court has identified as unlawful.”

The preliminary injunction specifically prohibits DOL from enforcing the Farmworker Protection Rule in the states of Georgia, Kansas, South Carolina, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, and against Miles Berry Farm and members of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association as of Aug. 26. To comply with the court order, DOL said it will not be enforcing the final rule in these states or with respect to these entities while the order remains in effect.

The DOL published the final rule, “Improving Protections for Workers in Temporary Agricultural Employment in the United States” and it became effective on June 28. The department previously announced that it would process clearance orders and associated H-2A applications filed before 7 p.m. on Aug. 28, at which time the department’s case processing system, the Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) was to be updated to accept applications under the Farmworker Protection Rule. In light of the injunction, the DOL’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) will delay updating its FLAG system to implement revised H-2A job order and application forms associated with the Farmworker Protection Rule until further notice.

OFLC will continue to receive and process H-2A job orders and applications under rules that were in effect on June 27. OFLC has indicated it will provide additional public notice regarding a revised transition schedule.

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