Landscape Management, January 2012
THE H 2B BATTLE H 2B OR NOT H 2B Contractors across the country are battling Department of Labor changes to the H 2B visa program that if implemented could cripple their businesses T hat sigh of relief you might have heard late last month was the collective exhalation from contractors across the country expressing their relief that two rule changes that would drastically alter the H 2B visiting worker program were put on hold until later this year On December 16 Congress included language as part of its spending bill that delayed the change in the Department of Labors DOL wage methodology that would have dramatically increased the hourly rate contractors are required to pay their H 2B visa workers The delay pushes the rule changes to Sept 30 of this year Contractors are still waiting to hear the rulings on two separate lawsuits tied to the DOL changes Its great weve got that long extension but we would have preferred to get the ruling on our lawsuit says Tom Delaney government affairs director for the Professional Landcare Network PLANET At least everybody knows for the next eight months where theyre at The judge really has until September to rule but we think shell rule well before September The current uncertainty leaves some contractors with an unpleasant nagging feeling in the back of their brains When are they going to say Its not going to happen You dont have to worry about this anymore asks Bill Gordon owner of Signature Landscape Olathe KS I dont think its going to happen I dont think legislators are willing to push hard enough to eliminate the stupidity theyve come up with The delay allows contractors to move ahead with their plans for 2012 It buys us the spring and the summer but the same problem rears its head in the fall says Fred Haskett managing partner operations for U S Lawns Defiance MO Were going to spend a huge amount of our time going back to Congress again and spending a lot of time that we could be devoting to building our businesses taking care of our clients taking care of LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET JANUARY 2012 30 our employees and creating jobs into fighting the federal government on a continuous level According to Delaney senators and members of the House of Representatives are finally beginning to realize this is a small business issue and not an immigration issue People in Congress understand what were dealing with now and are becoming more empathetic to us Delaney says Its a result of our lobbyists and our members They finally understand what impact the DOL would have The lawsuits and rule changes are just as important to contractors who dont use the H 2B program If we lose our H 2B workforce and are looking for replacement workers at the local level were going to aggressively advertise and look for people and guess who were going to be recruiting Haskett says Were going to look for the guys that have some experience continued on page 32
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