H-2A Farmworker Wage Rule Partially Blocked in Washington State

The US Department of Labor must reinstate pay standards under a 2020 prevailing wage rule for farmworkers on temporary visas in Washington state, a federal district court judge ordered.

The agency failed to address the effects of a “one-year rule” for piece-rate prevailing wages that would make pay standards valid for only a year after publication, Judge John H. Chun of the US District Court for the Western District of Washington found Tuesday.

“This lack of consideration, especially with the agency’s recognition of the importance of prevailing wages for protecting domestic farmworkers, appears arbitrary and capricious,” he wrote.

Chun declined ...