H-2A Wage Rate Litigation
Published Friday, September 4, 2026
A recent court order rejected the U.S. Department of Labor’s revised methodology for calculating the Adverse Effect Wage Rates, or AEWR, under the H-2A temporary agricultural worker visa program. The court directed the department to promptly produce a new AEWR methodology and publish new AEWRs under it; notify state workforce agencies, employers and the public by Sept. 2 that wage adjustments may be required for work from the date of that notice to the issuance of new AEWRs; and submit by Sept. 9 to the court the steps taken by the department to produce the new methodology and the department’s anticipated timeline for its issuance. Until new AEWRs are issued, AEWRs issued under the rejected methodology will stay in place. After new AEWRs have been issued, backpay will be addressed.
Staff contact: Carl Borden, cborden@cfbf.com.
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