The U.S. Dept. of Labor proposes revising regulations set out by the Bush Administration governing the certification of nonimmigrant workers in temporary or seasonal agricultural employment and the enforcement of the contractual obligations applicable to their employers.

The previous rules which were published on December 18, 2008 and were to be effective on January 17, 2009, had made it easier for farm employers to hire and pay workers. The United Farm Workers had challenged the implementation of the final rule in federal court, and the DOL acknowledged at the time that the development of the H–2A final rule was based in part on policy positions of the Bush Administration, “with which the current Administration may differ.”

Now, the DOL says its proposed rulemaking “reexamines the process by which employers obtain a temporary labor certification” from the DOL in petitioning the Department of Homeland Security to employ a nonimmigrant worker in H–2A status. The DOL also proposes to amend the regulations “to provide for sufficient enforcement under the H–2A program so that workers are appropriately protected when employers fail to meet the requirements of the H–2A program.”

Written comments on the 61-page Proposed Rule are due on or before October 5, 2009.