By notice issued on 7/2/25, the Department of Labor (DOL, henceforth “the Department”) has published proposals for the rescission of rules published by the Department on April 29, 2024, governing aspects of the H-2A guest workers program. The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute (GBPI) submits the following comment in response to DOL request for comment on the Recission of Final Rule, DOL Docket No. ETA-2025-0007, RIN 1205-AC25. GBPI supports the maintenance of key provisions and advises against several of the proposed recissions as they are likely to worsen working conditions for guest workers.
GBPI’s Interest in Rule
The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute’s (GBPI) mission is to advance lasting solutions that expand economic opportunity and well-being for all Georgians. For over two decades, GBPI has striven to help shape policies that protect and support vulnerable Georgians, including all immigrants and H-2A and agricultural workers, through its focus on fair wages, broadening language access, supporting English learners, and expanding educational opportunity for foreign-born students. Georgia ranks third in the country for the number of H-2A jobs certified, and agriculture is an industry upon which H-2A workers, and all Georgia families depend. The fair and just treatment of H-2A workers benefits all Georgians.
GBPI Supports Protections Against the Withholding of a Worker’s Passport
GBPI fully supports the Department’s proposal to uphold clear restrictions on involuntary confiscation of H2-A workers’ passports by employers, which serves no legitimate purpose, and instead increases the risk of exploitative working conditions. Existing restrictions on withholding of such documents include those cited at §655.135(e) (see also the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, Pub. L. 110-457, 18 U.S.C. 1592(a).)
GBPI Supports Overtime Pay Transparency
GBPI also supports the Department’s determination that previously proposed rules requiring transparency for overtime pay should be maintained. These rules help increase the interest of workers in agricultural positions and help provide workers with the information they need to make informed decisions.
GBPI Opposes Rescission of Safety Regulations
The Department proposes rescinding recent safety regulations, including protections around housing, and access to healthcare providers. GBPI opposes rescinding rules related to worker safety, including those at §655.132(e)(1) and §655.135(h)(1)(v). Worker health is important to both workers and their employers and to ensuring that Georgia’s agricultural industry continues to thrive and can help alleviate hunger across the state.
GBPI Opposes the Removal of Definitions for Just Cause for Firing
The Department proposes rescinding current definitions for circumstances that constitute just cause for termination of H-2A employment. GBPI believes that the current language is reasonable and that it helps safeguard both employer and employee rights against wrongful termination. The regulation also reduces difficult bureaucratic guesswork by H-2A employers, freeing work hours that would otherwise be spent on administrative interpretation.
Conclusion
GBPI has long striven to ensure that all Georgia workers, including immigrant workers and agricultural workers, are supported by policies that foster the conditions in which they can thrive. Based on the foregoing reasons, we encourage thoughtful consideration for key provisions to be maintained and for the rescission of others to be rejected.
