H-2B wage rule delayed 60 days

Craig Regelbrugge, ANLA's VP for Government Relations, is reporting that the Department of Labor is delaying the implementation of the H2B wage rule by 60 days.

"Hill sources tell us that this delay is happening in the face of the fact that the Appropriations Committee adopted an amendment blocking DOL from enforcing the rule," he said.

In other H-2B news, PLANET recently filed suit in federal court to stop the implementation of unwarranted and unjustifiable wage increases proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) for certain foreign workers. The new regulation specifies a 40 to 50 percent wage increase for all H-2B holders and would take effect Sept. 30.

The first goal of this legal action is to obtain a temporary restraining order to block the rule from taking effect on Sept. 30. If that effort is successful, then a preliminary injunction request will be sought.

The case, Professional Landcare Network et al v. Solis, was brought by several program users, including PLANET members and several other national organizations, who believe H-2B program workers do not “take” jobs from Americans who want them but rather take the jobs American workers have left vacant. The lawsuit argues that the DOL violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and the Regulatory Flexibility Act by issuing this regulation without going through what is termed “notice and comment” rulemaking.  In declaration filed as part of the suit, PLANET CEO Sabeena Hickman outlines the irreparable harm that the rule would place on PLANET members who use the H-2B Program.

“The H-2B employee has been the backbone of our members and the American workforce for many years,” said PLANET President Gerald J. Grossi. “If this regulation is not stopped, the H-2B program will cease to be an option, and without these workers, our industry cannot survive. PLANET has to take a leadership role as a plaintiff in this case because it is so important for our members and the industry in these harsh economic times to have the workforce necessary to fulfill their commitment to their customers.”

Many of PLANET’s members who use the H-2B program report that they have recently received supplemental prevailing wage determinations that range from a low of $1.90 per hour to a high of $7.01 per hour. At the low end, that results in a 20.3 percent increase in hourly wage cost and, at the high end, a 78.1 percent increase in hourly wage costs. The average increase in hourly wage costs is 40 percent.

The Final Rule, with its accelerated implementation date, will stunt, if not reverse, the growth of PLANET’s H-2B members’ businesses and the career opportunities of their year-round, U.S. workers, according to PLANET.

These other plaintiffs have joined PLANET in this suit: ArtisTree Landscape Maintenance & Design, National Hispanic Landscape Alliance, Ohio Landscape Association, Inc., U.S. Lawns of West and St. Charles County and others including Bayou Lawn & Landscape Services, Lake Cowart Seafood Corporation and the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association.