WASHINGTON, DC & IRVINE, CA - The United States Department of Labor recently released the final rule regarding the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) for H-2A employers, delivering the latest in a series of regulations directly impacting the fresh produce industry. The rule attempts to revise the wages based on employment duties without changing the formula that is used to determine AEWR rate.

International Fresh Produce Association’s (IFPA) Chief Executive Officer Cathy Burns released a statement following the announcement.

“The fresh produce and floral industry already faces enough challenges, and the publication of today’s AEWR rule is just one more burden our industry can simply not bear,” said Burns. “The H-2A program is unaffordable, ineffective, and out of date, and these program changes make it even more difficult for our members to find the workers they need. This is why Congress must act to pass agricultural immigration reform now. America’s agricultural producers simply cannot wait any longer.”

As noted in the association’s release, the AEWR is a calculation made by the Department of Labor to determine the wages that are required to be paid to H-2A and American workers in agricultural operations. The new rule is the result of efforts that began under the Trump Administration to update the H-2A program.

IFPA continued stating the AEWR calculation should be removed. While efforts to revise the program seek to protect American workers, the impact has only succeeded in hurting the businesses that employ them. Regardless of the wages offered to American workers, American agricultural employers have struggled to find the workers they need to produce the abundance of fresh fruits, vegetables, and floral products that consumers demand.

Western Growers’ President and Chief Executive Officer Dave Puglia also commented on the release.

“American farmers are already stretched to the limit by rising costs and shrinking margins. With economic blinders on, the Administration will now mandate that farmers pay higher wages to H-2A workers and domestic workers in corresponding employment,” said Puglia. “Increasing wages by regulatory order will force farmers to cut back on plantings in the U.S. and increase their farm operations in Mexico and other countries where wages are a fraction of the H-2A wage. No one in the Administration would want those things to happen, but these are the entirely foreseeable consequences of economically myopic policy decisions like this.”

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International Fresh Produce Association Western Growers