DOL Suspends Enforcement of 2024 Farmworker Protection Final Rule

Late last afternoon on Friday, June 20, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it was suspending its enforcement of the 2024 Farmworker Protection Final Rule (FP Rule) effective immediately and published a copy of an internal memorandum, in the form of a Field Assistance Bulletin, sent to all Wage & Hour Division (WHD) offices notifying them of this official policy change.

What Employers Need To Know:

In addition to directing all WHD field staff to discontinue enforcement of the FP Rule, DOL’s memo clarifies that investigators must instead now only apply the H-2A program regulations, including 20 CFR part 655, subpart B, and 29 CFR part 501 in effect on June 27, 2024, for purposes of assessing employer compliance. The memo also indicates that DOL is currently in the process of evaluating the FP Rule and considering future regulatory actions, including officially withdrawing the FP Rule. Until the review process has been completed, DOL advises WHD that its enforcement guidance of June 20, 2025, shall remain in effect until further notice or issuance of updated guidance. 

Further, according to a recently filed motion seeking a 90-day stay of the FP Rule litigation pending before the Eastern District of Kentucky in the case of Barton, et al. v. U.S. Department of Labor, et al., No. 5:24-cv-249-DCR (E.D. Ky., Nov. 25, 2024), DOL’s attorneys advised the court that it “will complete this reconsideration process and announce any rulemaking plans through the Spring 2025 Unified Regulatory Agenda,” which is currently expected to be released in early-July 2025. The 2025 Agenda will be posted for review by the public on the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs’ (OIRA) website that can be accessed here.

Immediate Impact:

DOL’s announcement effectively returns all employers back to the H-2A program rules that were in force prior to the FP Rule taking effect on June 28, 2024. Prior to this announcement, WHD had advised employers via an informal update posted to its webpage dedicated to the FP Rule that they “must continue to comply with all applicable H-2A regulations that are not otherwise enjoined or stayed.” 

This new enforcement guidance provides long overdue relief to employers who were not covered by the preliminary injunctions entered in the on-going FP Rule litigation pending in federal courts located in Georgia, Kentucky, and Mississippi, including those with job opportunities located outside the states of Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, South Carolina, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia, or who were not members of AWMA, NCGA, WAFLA, USA FARMERS, and/or NCAE at the time the injunction was entered.

Summary of FP Rules Affected:

As brief refresher, the FP Rule introduced “NLRA-like” union rules and other new requirements to the H-2A program, including provisions that addressed workers’ rights to engage in concerted activity, anti-retaliation protections, worker guest access to employer-provided housing, termination for cause standards and progressive discipline, seat belt requirements, wage disclosure and payment obligations, and employer disclosure and certification obligations, among others. 

Employers are recommended to review these rule changes as soon as possible to ensure they have an accurate understanding of the rules that have been impacted by DOL’s recent announcement suspending enforcement of the FP Rule. A list of published guidance from DOL regarding the FP Rule’s major provisions has been provided below: 

2024 Farmworker Protection Final Rule
OFLC WHD Farmworker Protection Final Rule Presentation June 2024 
H-2A Employer’s Guide to FP Rule
Frequently Asked Questions

Next Steps:

The H-2A regulated community should monitor OIRA’s release of its 2025 Agenda in the coming weeks which will reveal the current administration’s plans regarding future regulatory actions it plans to implement moving forward with respect not only to the FP Rule, but also related regulations that were introduced during the prior administration, including but not limited to DOL’s 2023 AEWR Final Rule, DHS’s 2024 Modernizing H-2 Programs Final Rule, and OSHA’s 2025 Heat Proposed Rule. Employers should look to the pre-June 2024 version of the H-2A program regulations for compliance until further notice. 

In the interim, we encourage all employers with questions or concerns regarding how DOL’s recent announcement suspending WHD’s enforcement of the FP Final Rule affects their individual operations moving forward to contact their dedicated Seso Customer Success Manager and/or Case Manager. Seso’s in-house legal team will be actively monitoring this situation in real-time and will provide any additional updates to this guidance as soon as they become available.