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Saturday, May 18, 2019

Crucial Facts You Must Know When Considering The H2A Program

By Shirley Thompson


H-2A programs offer a convenient way for agricultural farms to legally obtain reliable and adequate workers. Foreign workers can apply for visas and get contracted on a temporary basis to provide the labor that the farms require. Irrespective of whether you are a foreigner in need of employment in the U. S. Or you are a prospective employer, there are important facts you need to know about the H2A program.

If you are in the U. S. Illegally, finding legal employment is challenging because your legal status will remain the same. Then again, if you choose to leave, you will be banned from reentering the country for about 3-10 years, depending on the period through which you were in the country illegally. This calculates into a chronic lack of employment opportunities, irrespective of your qualifications.

The H-2A program offers a win-win deal for both employers in agricultural farms and foreign workers in need of employment. The employers provide temporary employment, coupled with numerous other benefits and the workers in question step in to cover for the seasonal shortage of domestic workers. For a farm to be able to legally recruit foreigners, it must first affirm that trying to find labor locally is impossible. This means that farms must first advertise locally.

Employers are obligated to continue cooperating with the State Workforce Agency. This helps to ascertain that available job opportunities are first given to qualified, unemployed U. S. Workers. Now that you understand how the recruiting process works, you may also want to understand the rules that revolve around the wages that are offered.

Foreign employees are paid as per the Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWR). This is commonly known as the prevailing wage rate in the state and the income you will get may depend highly on the position you take up within the farm. Employers on the other hand need to ascertain that H-2A programs do not have a great impact on the income of domestic employees.

For a program to work as expected, free housing should be offered to the foreign employees. The state Department of Health or the Department of Labor within the state will be responsible for ensuring that certain standards are met and the employees get to lead dignified lives during their stay within the country. The number of employees who need housing will determine the state department that will oversee matters of housing.

It is also expected of employers to provide meals. In case this is not possible, the foreign workers need to be offered a cooking facility where they can get their meals prepared. Apart from providing free housing, prospective employers also need to foot the relevant transportation costs and provide a work guarantee for not less than 75% of the period stated in the contract.

Even though H2A programs are beneficial, they are also fairly complex. Most farms find it better to get help from experts who understand how things work in detail. Seeking assistance from an ideal organization will ensure that you only start the process if you are a qualified beneficiary of the program. The professionals will offer help with both the paperwork and the applications involved.




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