News - ANLA Update: Help Save the H-2B Program

ANLA Update: Help Save the H-2B Program

Nov 9

Written by:
11/9/2011

Maybe you can't walk the halls of the Capitol. But our message can.

ANLA Update: Help Save the H-2B Program

Help Save the H-2B Program	Take Action!


As you know, two pending Department of Labor (DOL) regulations will make the H-2B program virtually unusable. Several Senators and Members of Congress are aware of the harm that the rules will pose for small businesses and plan to send a letter to DOL asking the Department to rescind both the final H-2B wage rule and the March 18 H-2B proposed rule! Please call your Senators and Member of Congress today and ask them to sign the below letter that is being circulated by Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA). This letter to DOL is bipartisan and bicameral. You can reach your Senators and Members of Congress by calling the Capitol switch board at 202-225-3121. Ask for your Senator or Representative's office. Once connected to the office ask to speak to the staff person in charge on immigration issues. Explain the importance of the H-2B program to your industry or your business. Please ask that the Senator or Representative sign the letter. Our Congressional allies plan to send this letter to DOL right after Labor Day. Background: A final DOL rule slated to go into effect on September 30, 2011 will artificially increase H-2B hourly wages by 30-50%. According to DOL's own estimates, the rule will increase H-2B wages for landscaping services by about $3.60 per hour. The actual cost to H-2B users could be far greater than DOL's estimates because DOL does not account for labor increases for similarly employed American workers or more experienced American workers whose pay should reflect the greater skill or experience level and be proportional to the hourly wage earned by lesser skilled workers. It also does not include additional payroll costs, workers compensation insurance, overtime costs and other associated increases. A second DOL proposed rule, published in the March 18, 2011 Federal Register, would make the program even more expensive and complicated to use. For example, the rule would require employers to hire any qualified U.S. worker up to three days before the H-2B worker is scheduled to begin, even though the employer has already offered the job to the H-2B worker, assisted with the visa process and paid transportation, housing and other associated fees. The proposed rule would also involve labor unions in the hiring process and require employers to pay transportation and subsistence costs for potential U.S. workers. Please call your Senators and Member of Congress today and ask them to the sign the letter! If any Senators or Members of Congress want to sign the letter or have any questions, they can contact Brent Robinson in Rep. Robert Wittman's office at brent.robinson@mail.house.gov. Details can be found in the below "dear colleague" letter. Click here to view Rep. Wittman's letter.

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Recent News for the Louisiana Irrigation Association

H-2B Alert Update

LandcareNetwork.org

July 1, 2011

Federal court rules new H-2B Wage Rule, effective October 1, 2011

On June 15, 2011, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued a ruling that invalidated the January 1, 2012, effective date of the Wage Rule and ordered the Department of Labor (DOL) to announce a new effective date for the rule within 45 days from June 15. The basis for the court’s ruling was twofold: (1) that the almost one-year delay in the effective date was not a “logical outgrowth” of the proposed rule, and therefore was in violation; and (2) that the DOL was wrong in considering hardship to employers when deciding to delay the effective date.

The DOL proposes that the Wage Rule take effect 60 days from the date of publication of a final rule resulting from this rulemaking. It anticipates the date of publication of the final rule to be on or about August 1, 2011; thus, the effective date of the Wage Rule would be on or about October 1, 2011. The Wage Rule will be effective for wages paid to H-2B workers and U.S. workers recruited in connection with an H-2B labor certification for all work performed on or after the new effective date. A 60-day delayed effective date also would provide the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) within the DOL with the time it needs to implement the wage rule, as the OFLC must issue new prevailing wages for approved work performed on or after the new effective date.

In order to accomplish this, the OFLC must identify all certified H-2B applications that contain dates of work to be performed on and after the new effective date of the Wage Rule. This universe of certifications must then be issued new prevailing wage determinations in accordance with the Wage Rule’s methodology. This is a labor-intensive activity, as the OFLC will have to determine and issue the new determinations before the new effective date proposed in this rulemaking for each of these employers. OFLC has determined the universe of applications to be large, and therefore will require the 60-day delayed effective date in order to complete this task.

PLANET recently sent more than 3,500 postcards to all users of the H-2B program, asking them to contact their members of Congress through the PLANET Web site. We were very disappointed with the response. The simple fact is that if you do not contact your representative and senators, they will not do anything to help.

PLANET continues to work with other associations representing industries that rely on the program. However, our industry is the biggest user of the program and must therefore take the major part of the grassroots action. If PLANET members do not use PLANET’s Legislative Action Center to send letters to the Hill, this program may be rendered completely useless for the foreseeable future. We also encourage you to attend Legislative Day on the Hill and go with other members of your state to the Hill with request for help.

Tom Delaney
Director of Government Affairs
Professional Landcare Network (PLANET)
(800) 395-2522

Professional Landcare Network (PLANET)
950 Herndon Parkway, Suite 450
Herndon, VA 20170
(800) 395-2522 . Fax (703) 736-9668 . LandcareNetwork.org
The association of members who create and maintain the QUALITY OF LIFE in communities across America.