AmericanHort and federal advocacy partner the National Christmas Tree Association filed official comments on the Department of Labor’s (DOL) latest proposed changes to the H-2A agricultural worker program. The comment period ended on November 14, after the DOL refused to extend it despite many stakeholder requests. The proposed rule represents a stunning overreach under the guise of new burdens and obligations DOL argues are needed to protect workers from abuse. Some of the proposed changes seek to circumvent Congressional intent, which exempted agricultural workers from various provisions of the National Labor Relations Act, by imposing NLRA-like provisions through regulation. DOL also seeks to require growers to provide access to workers on the farm, despite the relatively recent Cedar Point decision, which deemed such access a “taking.” If DOL chooses to finalize the rule in anything near its current form, we anticipate it will face legal challenges. Meanwhile, this rulemaking initiative is the third in a rather compressed time period, with new program rules that took effect just over one year ago and a new wage rule that took effect at the end of March 2023.