Posts By: Jason Resnick
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DOL Proposes Recission of 2024 Farmworker Protection Rule
On June 30, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a proposed rule to rescind large portions of its controversial 2024 H-2A Final Rule, Improving Protections for Workers in Temporary Agricultural Employment in the United States. The proposed rescission comes in the wake of multiple federal court injunctions and DOL’s recent decision to suspend enforcement of the rule, as previously…
DOL Suspends Enforcement of 2024 Farmworker Protection Rule
On June 20, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) announced it is suspending enforcement of the 2024 Farmworker Protection Rule (FWPR), effective immediately. This suspension is welcome news for H-2A employers, who have been navigating significant legal uncertainty since the FWPR’s implementation. The 2024 rule introduced expansive new requirements…
DIR Director Katie Hagen Resigns After Five-Year Tenure
According to Cal/OSHA Reporter, Katie Hagen has resigned from her position as Director of the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), effective July 2025. Hagen will be departing for the private sector to assume the role of CEO at CPS HR Consulting, a Sacramento-based firm that serves public agencies and nonprofit organizations nationwide. Hagen’s departure marks the end of a…
Justices Reject Heightened Bar for Reverse Discrimination Plaintiffs
In a unanimous decision issued June 5, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court held that employees who allege discrimination, including so-called “reverse discrimination,” are entitled to equal treatment under federal law. The Court reversed a Sixth Circuit ruling that had imposed a heightened pleading standard on a heterosexual woman claiming sex-based discrimination in a state agency’s promotion…
Western Growers Advocacy Helps Defeat PAGA Workaround Bill
SB 310 (Wiener), a bill that would have undermined California’s recent bipartisan reforms to the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), has been moved to the Senate’s Inactive File and will not advance this session. June 6 marks the Legislature’s “house of origin” deadline—the last day for a bill to pass out of the chamber in which it was introduced. With SB 310 stalled in the Senate,…
DIR Director Katie Hagen Resigns After Five-Year Tenure
According to Cal/OSHA Reporter, Katie Hagen has resigned from her position as Director of the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), effective July 2025. Hagen will be departing for the private sector to assume the role of CEO at CPS HR Consulting, a Sacramento-based firm that serves public agencies and nonprofit organizations nationwide. Hagen’s departure marks the end of a…
Federal Court Sets July 1 Hearing in AEWR Lawsuit Challenging DOL Wage Rule
A federal judge has scheduled a long-awaited hearing in a high-stakes legal challenge to the U.S. Department of Labor’s 2023 methodology for setting Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWR) for H-2A workers. The lawsuit, brought by the National Council of Agricultural Employers (NCAE)—of which Western Growers is a member—alongside several Florida-based agricultural organizations, seeks to roll…
Court of Appeal Revives PAGA Claim; Outcome Would Differ Under New PAGA Law
In Osuna v. Spectrum Security Services, Inc.1, the California Court of Appeal reversed a trial court's dismissal of a representative claim under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), holding that the plaintiff had standing to bring the claim even though he had not worked for the employer during the one-year statute of limitations period preceding his PAGA notice. Edgar Osuna worked for…
Best Practices: Hand Weeding and Thinning in California Agriculture
California agricultural employers engaged in hand weeding, thinning, and similar crop preparation activities must comply with specific safety regulations designed to prevent musculoskeletal injuries among agricultural workers. The California Code of Regulations, Title 8, Section 3456, outlines when and how hand labor is permitted and places strict limits on stooped, kneeling, or squatting work…
H-2A Workers and Taxes: What H-2A Employers Need to Know
Understanding the tax treatment of H-2A agricultural workers can be a source of confusion for employers, even those who have participated in the H-2A program for years. Federal and state tax rules governing H-2A employees differ in significant ways from those that apply to domestic workers—and not all obligations fall on the employer. With spring planting underway and tax season upon us, now…
PAGA Standing Requires Personal Labor Code Violation, Court Affirms
In Williams v. Alacrity Solutions Group, LLC, the California Court of Appeal recently reaffirmed that a plaintiff bringing a representative action under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) must personally suffer a Labor Code violation to have standing. Corbin Williams worked as an adjuster for Alacrity Solutions Group for approximately one week in 2019. He brought a PAGA-only lawsuit…
Western Growers Seeks Preliminary Injunction to Block Mandatory Mediation Statute
On April 24, 2025, Western Growers and member Olive Hill Greenhouses, Inc. filed a motion for preliminary injunction in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. The motion asks the court to block the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) from enforcing the state's Mandatory Mediation and Conciliation (MMC) statute, codified at Labor Code §1164 et…
Written Meal Period Waivers Get Green Light from California Court
In the California Court of Appeal case Bradsbery v. Vicar Operating, Inc., the court addressed whether employers can enforce prospective, written waivers of meal periods for shifts lasting between five and six hours. Under California Labor Code § 512(a), employees are entitled to a 30-minute meal break after five hours of work. However, for shifts between five and six hours, this meal…
OAL Approves Final ALRB Card Check Regulations
On April 7, 2025, the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) approved the Agricultural Labor Relations Board's (ALRB) long-anticipated regulatory package implementing AB 113, the statute that introduced majority support petitions, or “card check,” for union representation among California agricultural employees. This final action follows a months-long regulatory process that included…
USDA Freezes Payments Under Farm Labor Stabilization Grant Program
The USDA has suspended payments under its $50 million Farm Labor Stabilization and Protection Pilot (FLSP) Program, leaving grant recipients in uncertainty just months after awards were announced. The FLSP was launched to help agricultural employers improve labor standards, increase worker retention and transition to more stable employment models such as H-2A. More than 140 employers…
LWDA’s Enhanced Oversight of PAGA Claims
In a striking development earlier this year, the Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) sent a clear message to plaintiffs’ attorneys that it will no longer tolerate vague or boilerplate Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) claims. Last month, the agency issued a formal directive to a prominent plaintiff-side law firm, ordering amendments to over 100 PAGA notices due to a lack of…
H-2A Alert: DOL Updates H-2A Meal and Travel Reimbursement Rates Effective March 24
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced updated rates for allowable meal charges and travel-related subsistence reimbursements for H-2A workers. These changes, officially published in the Federal Register on March 24, 2025, are effective immediately upon publication, and apply to all H-2A occupations other than herding or livestock production on the range. Updated Maximum Meal…
ALRB Card Check Regulations Delayed Due to ‘Technical Issues’
The implementation of the Agricultural Labor Relations Board’s (ALRB) card check regulations has encountered another delay. On January 10, 2025, the ALRB submitted its final rulemaking package to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) for approval. However, on February 25, 2025, the ALRB withdrew the submission due to what has been described as “non-substantive technical issues. " The…
DOJ Prioritizes Immigration Enforcement
In February 2025, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a memorandum significantly expanding immigration enforcement efforts. This directive instructs all U.S. Attorneys' Offices to prioritize criminal immigration-related violations and utilize all available criminal statutes, not limited to immigration laws, to address illegal immigration activities. Key Components of the DOJ…
Western Growers Fights for Farmers: Challenging Unconstitutional Overreach in Court
At Western Growers, we stand firm in our commitment to protecting the rights of the farmers and agribusinesses we represent against burdensome and unconstitutional laws. In recent months, we have engaged in two critical legal battles to push back against legislative overreach: one challenging California’s SB 399, a law restricting employer speech, and another contesting SB 253 and SB 261,…