New H-2A Herder Rule to Boost Wages, Conditions for Workers

Both foreign and U.S.-born workers engaged in sheep and goat herding and the open range production of livestock will see a bump in wages and new mandates for their working conditions under a final rule issued by the Labor Department.

Most notably, the final rule (RIN 1205-AB70), released Oct. 13, establishes a new methodology for calculating wages for such workers under the H-2A agricultural guestworker program. The new calculation for adverse effect wage rates (AEWRs) starts with the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour as a basis for an initial monthly wage rate, based on a 48-hour workweek. Beginning ...