Posts By: Jason Resnick
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Court Blocks USCIS Fee Increases
Last week, a federal judge granted a motion for a preliminary injunction blocking the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) from moving forward with its rule imposing a new fee schedule. The USCIS had issued a rule that could dramatically increase fees on employers that use the H-2A program, among other immigration-based programs. The fees ...
USDA to Discontinue Ag Labor Survey
The U.S Department of Agriculture announced last week its intent to suspend the Agricultural Labor Survey which is used to set the Adverse Effect Wage Rates for H-2A workers each year. According to USDA, “[t]he Agricultural Labor Survey provides quarterly statistics on the number of agricultural workers, hours worked, and wage rates. Number of workers ...
California Issues Guidance on New Pay Data Reporting Requirements
On September 30, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law SB 973, which imposes new pay reporting requirements on certain employers. Employers in California with more than 100 full-time and part-time employees that are required to file employer information reports with the federal government (“EEO-1” reports) will be required to submit pay and hours-worked data ...
Calif. Issues Limited Stay at Home Order to Slow Spread of COVID-19
Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) today announced a limited Stay at Home Order in which non-essential businesses and personal gatherings are prohibited between 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. The order will take effect at 10:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 21 and remain in effect until 5:00 a.m. on December ...
Farm Workers Union Sues DOL Over New Rule for H-2A Wage Rates
The U.S. Labor Department rule changing how the agency calculates wage rates for temporary guest workers in the H-2A agricultural visa program violates the Administrative Procedure Act and must be set aside, according to a lawsuit filed in a California federal court. The United Farm Workers and its foundation filed a complaint Monday against the ...
Federal Court Blocks DOL Rule on H-2A Wage Freeze
On December 23, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the District of Eastern California granted the United Farm Workers’ (UFW) motion for a preliminary injunction, preventing the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) from freezing wages under the H-2A agricultural guest-worker program. Last month, DOL published a final rule freezing wages for 2021 and 2022 at ...
Cal/OSHA Issues New COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard FAQ’s; Industry Lawsuit is Underway
On Jan. 8, 2021, Cal/OSHA issued much-anticipated updated Frequently Asked Questions in connection with the COVID-19 emergency temporary standards (ETS). While the new FAQs offer some clarity as to some of the many questions employers have grappled with in attempting to comply with the ETS, many questions and ambiguities remain. According to the updated FAQs ...
U.S Department of Labor Issues New H-2A Streamlining Rules
On Jan. 15, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a final rule that would modernize the H-2A Temporary Agricultural Labor Program. This combined agency effort between DOL, the State Department and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been a long time coming and comes on the eve of a presidential transition. However, as ...
2021 H-2A AEWR Expected by Feb. 25; May Require Backpay Obligation
As reported here, on December 23, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California issued an order in United Farm Workers. v. DOL enjoining the Department of Labor from implementing its Final Rule modifying the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) methodology for setting wages under the H-2A program. On January 12, 2021, ...
Department of Labor Pulls Trump H-2A Streamlining Rule
As reported here, on January 15, 2021, just five days before President Biden would take the oath of office, the U.S. Department of Labor announced the imminent publication of a final rule, Temporary Agricultural Employment of H-2A Nonimmigrants in the United States (RIN 1205-AB89). The rule was to go into effect 30 days after the pending publication ...
Western Growers Files Amicus Brief in Union Access Case
Western Growers, California Fresh Fruit Association, Grower Shipper Association of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties and Ventura County Agricultural Association have filed an amicus curiae – friend of the court – brief at the U.S. Supreme Court in a case challenging the so-called Access Regulation promulgated by the Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) ...
Court Hears Arguments on Motions for Preliminary Injunction in ETS Lawsuits
On Thursday, January 28, 2021, the San Francisco Superior Court heard back-to-back oral arguments on motions for preliminary injunctions sought in two lawsuits – one by the Western Growers-led agricultural and broad business coalition, and the other by the National Retailers Federation – to stop the recently-enacted Cal OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) concerning COVID-related…
Projected H-2A Wage Rates for 2021
Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) gave a preview of what the 2021 H-2A wage rates will be. USDA released its Farm Labor Survey (FLS), which the Department of Labor (DOL) will use to generate the 2021 Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWRs). The DOL’s rule to transition away from the FLS and to freeze ...
The DFEH Pay Data Reporting Portal is Now Open
According to California regulation, private employers with 100 or more employees must file pay data reports with the CA Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) by March 31, 2021. The portal for employers to file their reports is now available. As previously reported here, SB 973 requires qualified private employers to report detailed pay-related ...
New H-2A Wage Rates Now in Effect
On Feb. 23, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor published the Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWR) for 2021. The new AEWRs go into effect immediately, meaning any H-2A workers or U.S. workers in corresponding employment, get an immediate pay raise. The new wage rates are identical to those projected here: California’s AEWR is now $16.05 ...
New One-Stop COVID-19 Hub for CA Employers
To assist with new challenges in health and the workplace caused by the pandemic, a one-stop hub for California employers to conveniently find up-to-date state and local county COVID-19 guidance is now available. This resource provides employers with tailored roadmaps, guidance relevant to specific industries, online trainings, safety procedures and other helpful resources. Access the ...
California Legislature Approves Extension of COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave
On March 19, 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom approved Senate Bill 95 expanding existing paid sick leave benefits under the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014. Existing law provided for COVID-19 paid sick leave until December 31, 2020. The newly passed legislation – applied retroactively to January 1, 2021 – is intended to extend ...
DOL Launches Ag Education Initiative
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has launched a nationwide education, outreach and enforcement initiative to ensure workplace protections for farmworkers. The initiative includes targeted outreach and education efforts to ensure that farmworkers and their advocates understand their rights and that they should contact the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division to file a complaint if ...
DIR Launches Web-based COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave Tool
The Department of Industrial Relations and its California Labor Commissioner’s Office recently launched a web-based tool that offers key information on the new 2021 COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave law. The web tool is available here: https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/covid-psl/ This tool is available in both English and Spanish and provides employers and their workers easy access to ...
Court of Appeals Rules California’s Independent Contractor Law Applies to Truckers
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has overturned an injunction that blocked the application of AB 5, California’s law governing the use of independent contractors (as to independent truckers). The lawsuit was brought by the California Truckers Association (CTA) in December 2019, just before AB 5 went into effect. It persuaded a ...