FELS Newsletter: May 2024
USDA Announces Farmworker Housing Loans and Grants
U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development recently announced two programs related to financing of farmworker housing. The agency has loans available to develop or rehabilitate certain on-farm worker housing. It also has grants and loans available to help finance the development of off-farm housing for year-round and migrant or seasonal domestic farm workers. According to USDA, […]
USDOL Finalizes H-2A Program Rule
Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su (formerly secretary of California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency) traveled to Sebastopol on April 26 to announce that the U.S. Department of Labor finalized its September 2023 proposed H-2A program rule, which had been widely criticized by agricultural employer advocates as wrongheaded and destructive. The rule requires employers of […]
CDPH Recommendations for Protecting Dairy Employees from H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI)
The California Department of Public Health has issued the following recommendations for protection of dairy employees:
CDC Asks States to Distribute Stockpiled PPE
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued guidance to prioritize disbursement of PPE to dairies, poultry farms, and slaughterhouses known to have positive or presumptive herds with highly pathogenic avian influenza, or H5N1. As of May 9, California had no known cases of H5N1 bird flu in cows or humans. Absent confirmed or suspected HPAI […]
FELS+wafla: H-2A Program Exclusive for FELS Subscribers & Clients!
Farm Employers Labor Service has created a strategic partnership with wafla, offering exclusive access for FELS subscribers to the services of the premier membership organization for H-2A program employers. wafla is a nonprofit business association representing agriculture, governed by a member board of directors. As a member-driven, service-based organization, wafla’s retained earnings go to member services, […]
Rare Win for Employers: Knowing and Intentional Wage Statement Defense
On May 6, the California Supreme Court gave a rare win to employers when it issued its most recent opinion in the ongoing fight in Naranjo v. Spectrum Security Services, Inc. The name may sound familiar because in 2022 the California Supreme Court issued a decision in the same case, finding that the one hour of […]
