In my state undocumented farm workers make a little more than minimum wage. After this rule change they will be able to legally pay them less.
These are the two most important points of the blog or article I posted:
DOL’s Reasoning. The DOL estimates that agricultural employers will save over $24 billion over the next 10 years as a result of these changes.
AEWR Examples. For some states, these AEWR changes will mean that the state minimum wage will become the highest applicable wage rate for H-2A workers. For other states, the new AEWRs will be lower than the state’s minimum wage. For example, California’s statewide hourly minimum wage for most employers for 2025 is $16.50. However, the new hourly AEWR in California after applying the state’s $3.00 downward adjustment for nonmonetary compensation is $13.45 for entry-level H-2A workers in the Skill I category and $15.71 for experienced H-2A workers in the Skill Level II category.
I feel like what you’re missing is that this is lowering the floor for what you can pay visa holders, but saying that will make them preferable to people where there is no floor doesn’t follow.
I feel like you are still missing a piece of this puzzle.
It turns the migrant farm workers into almost an indentured servitude type class. Right now they demand free market wages which is often above minimum wage in that state. Once their immigration status is tied to their employer they have no ability to shop around for better pay.
So sure there is no “floor” right now, but the free market is the floor. This change might benefit some migrants who are getting bad deals currently, but overall it will harm the migrant workforce and drive labor costs down.
Without this migrant labor would get more and more expensive, as more and more people are deported.
Haha, you think they are keeping the rules the same? https://www.fisherphillips.com/en/news-insights/dol-issues-game-changer-rule-for-h-2a-farmworker-wages.html
In my state undocumented farm workers make a little more than minimum wage. After this rule change they will be able to legally pay them less.
These are the two most important points of the blog or article I posted:
I feel like what you’re missing is that this is lowering the floor for what you can pay visa holders, but saying that will make them preferable to people where there is no floor doesn’t follow.
I feel like you are still missing a piece of this puzzle.
It turns the migrant farm workers into almost an indentured servitude type class. Right now they demand free market wages which is often above minimum wage in that state. Once their immigration status is tied to their employer they have no ability to shop around for better pay.
So sure there is no “floor” right now, but the free market is the floor. This change might benefit some migrants who are getting bad deals currently, but overall it will harm the migrant workforce and drive labor costs down.
Without this migrant labor would get more and more expensive, as more and more people are deported.