Labor Department Brings Back 250 More Employees in Shutdown (1)

The Department of Labor is recalling 255 furloughed workers to staff more services as the government shutdown nears its second month.

The department’s new contingency plan, released Friday, said that Office of Foreign Labor Certification staff will be recalled to process prevailing wage determinations and labor certification applications.

According to the document, 200 additional workers are listed as essential to perform activities “implied by law” at the Employment and Training Administration, where the OFLC resides. An additional 55 workers in the Wage and Hour Division are noted to be compensated by a resource separate from annual appropriations.

DOL’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification will resume work processing labor certification applications, a move agricultural employers had lobbied the Trump administration to take in recent weeks.

Approval of those labor certifications is required before employers can file worker petitions with the Department of Homeland Security or have visas issued by the Department of State.

The freeze on OFLC operations put a growing strain on farmers who faced entering their peak season without access to critical labor through the H-2A seasonal visa program. The National Council of Agricultural Employers had urged the Trump administration in an Oct. 22 letter to deem processing of H-2A labor certifications an essential activity amid the shutdown, warning that further delays could make the season a total loss for many farmers.

Michael March, president of the NCAE said the organization was “very pleased” with the updated plan.

“America’s farmers and ranchers have already lost some crops as a result of the shutdown but we are hopeful that we will be able to save many of those that may have been jeopardized with this action taken today. America’s farm and ranch families are very grateful for this change,” he said.

The plan also allows for intermittent exceptions for Bureau of Labor Statistics staff to produce and release the agency’s consumer price index, but noted that if the shutdown is prolonged further, the release of data could be delayed and the quality of that data could be reduced.

“Due to the unexpected length of the shutdown, this lapse plan change occurred after conferring with OMB to find a way to help meet Americans’ needs that are being ignored by Senate Democrats’ month-long inaction,” a DOL spokesperson said in a statement Friday, referring to the White House Office of Management and Budget.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission also brought back three workers, including the newly-appointed commissioner Brittany Panuccio.