Emergency Relief Refused In Case Challenging H-2A Program Wage-Setting Methodology
Published Friday, August 7, 2026
In October 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor issued its interim final rule that revised the methodology for calculating the Adverse Effect Wage Rate, or AEWR, under the H-2A temporary agricultural worker visa program. The interim final rule provides H-2A employers with the possibility of significant AEWR relief. In November, the United Farm Workers, UFW Foundation and 18 farmworkers sued in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California to enjoin the interim final rule. On Feb. 5, California Farm Bureau and the National Council of Agricultural Employers submitted to that court an amici curiae, or “friend of the court,” brief supporting the Labor Department’s new way of setting wage rates under the H-2A program. On May 14, the court denied motions for a preliminary injunction and stay filed by plaintiffs. The court did so because plaintiffs had failed to provide sufficient evidence that workers were likely to suffer immediate, irreparable harm from the new wage rule and waited too long to seek emergency relief. Briefing on cross-motions for summary judgment ended on July 29, and a scheduling conference is set for Nov. 5. United Farm Workers et al. v. U.S. Department of Labor et al., U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California, Docket No. 1:25-cv-1614-KES-SKO.
Staff contact: Carl Borden, cborden@cfbf.com.
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