US court sets 30 December deadline for new H-2A farm wage rule

A U.S. federal court has given the Department of Labor (DOL) until 30 December 2026 to issue a new rule setting the wages of farm workers on the H-2A agricultural guest worker visa and the U.S. workers employed alongside them. The order, dated 2 October 2026, follows a ruling in August that the government's October 2025 wage rule is illegal.

Key facts

• Deadline: the Labor Department must publish a new wage rule by 30 December 2026.
• Who is affected: farm workers on H-2A agricultural guest worker visas and U.S. workers doing the same jobs.
• What changes: a new methodology for the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR), the wage floor for H-2A employment.
• Size of the disputed cut: wages were reduced by $3–7 per hour.
• Value of the cut: $2.46 billion a year shifted from workers to employers, on the Labor Department's own estimates.

What did the court decide?

The court found in its ruling of 26 August 2026 that the Trump administration's October 2025 AEWR rule breaks federal law because it undercuts the wages of U.S. workers. The new methodology the Labor Department must now write has to be consistent with that ruling.

The October 2025 rule, which cut farm worker wages by $3–7 per hour, nevertheless remains in effect while the department works on its replacement.

Who challenged the wage cut?

The United Farm Workers, the UFW Foundation and 18 individual farm worker plaintiffs brought the case shortly after the rule was issued last year. The court's August ruling also required the Labor Department to tell employers they may owe back pay covering the period from 2 September 2026 — the date of that notice — until a lawful rule is issued.

Will workers receive back pay?

That question has not been settled. The court will hear arguments and decide the issue after the Labor Department issues the new rule. The source does not state how any back pay would be calculated or how workers would claim it.

What does this mean for farm workers?

Workers on H-2A contracts and the U.S. employees working next to them should watch for the new rule due by 30 December 2026, since it will set their wage floor. Employers have been formally notified that they may be responsible for back pay from 2 September 2026 onwards, and the amount workers ultimately receive will depend on the court's later decision.

United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero said the wage cut will have been in force for more than a year, and welcomed the hard deadline ending it. No further dates have been announced for the back pay hearing.