In counties all across PA, there are temporary agricultural jobs waiting for employment-authorized immigrants or US citizens who are willing and able to do them. These jobs are not for everyone; wages typically range from minimum wage to $10.00 per hour and the working conditions are not always easy, but in areas where few jobs are available, particularly for workers with limited English or job skills, they may be the best or only option.
Because the work is physically challenging and the seasonal nature of the jobs is not always practical for workers, a guest worker visa, the H-2A Visa, was established. For a more complete list of types of worker visa and see below. Worker visas, unlike immigrant visas, were established to fill labor needs that were not being met by US citizens or immigrants; for this reason any US citizen or immigrant has first priority to fill those positions over an H-2A Visa holder. In this article, a "US worker" refers to any US citizen or legal immigrant, refugee, or asylee.
An employer who wishes to hire H-2A workers must first advertise job listings in several formats including state employment agencies. In PA, they advertise with CareerLink. They typically advertise positions months ahead of time, so they have time to then apply to have H-2A workers at their site. They need to leave the listing at CareerLink until the date when the H-2A workers leave their country to come to their work site. However, US workers can continue to apply for positions and be hired even after the start of the listed labor period. To check for listings of farm worker positions, google PA CareerLink. From the dropdown menu for "Occupation category" choose "Farming, fishing and forestry" and enter the region where the worker wishes to be employed. You may still need to sort through additional listings that are unrelated to agricultural labor.
In the final days of the Bush Administration there were reforms of the H-2A worker program, that are seen to favor growers at the expense of farm workers. On March 13, the Obama Administration proposed suspending the new regulations. If the proposal takes effect, the new rules will be suspended for a period of nine months. It is widely believed that at the end of this period, he will permanently return to the policies in place before the Bush reforms. One of the policies that were changed was to require that US workers applying for farm positions send copies of their work authorization with their initial application. This is illegal for all other types of positions. For this reason, with each of the CareerLink listings of growers who will be applying for H-2A workers, you will find the following text:
"You MUST bring your employment eligibility verification documents with you to the PA CareerLink in order to be referred to this opportunity. Acceptable documents include your U.S. Passport, permanent resident card, drivers license, voters registration card, military ID, Social Security card, original or certified copy of birth certificate, or U.S. Citizen ID Card to the Pennsylvania CareerLink "
Because the government does not want H-2A workers to severely undercut the prevailing wages of the community, they have historically allowed the state Departments of Labor to determine the wage. In PA and surrounding states, this rate was based on an "Adverse Effect Wage Rate" of $9.70. With the Bush changes the power to determine this wage was put in the hands of the federal government, and they set the rate in some cases at just 25 cents over the minimum wage for each state. For this reason, some of the farms have wage rates listed that are under last year's minimum rate of $9.70.
Growers are required to provide free housing for H-2A workers. They also provide cooking utensils, refrigerators, and transportation to purchase food on at least a weekly basis. These same accommodations must also be offered to US workers who do not live in the immediate vicinity of the job site.
Some growers have been known to show a preference for H-2A workers over US workers. At times they have done this by advertising unrealistic work requirements such as, "Must be able to lift 200 lbs on a regular basis." If these requirements are not truly necessary for the tasks, or are not equally required of US Workers and H-2A workers, they can be challenged. Also if US Workers apply for positions with the farms and are told by either CareerLink staff or the growers that positions are already filled, they should report it. Reports can be made to any of the following:
Todd Miller at NEER
Tel: 215-747-7500 Ext. 257
Email: toddm@lcfsinpa.org
The Office of Special Counsel (OSC)
Tel: 1-800-255-2688
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