Plan your season

Start planning your season

Confirm your start date, crew size, jobs and housing. Pull last season's job order and records so the new one starts from them.

• Last season's job order and pay rates
• Returning workers' names and contact details

Get housing ready

Finish repairs and line up your housing inspection with your state workforce agency. Inspections can take weeks to schedule.

• Housing addresses, capacity and photos
• Any repair receipts

Job order window opens

The job order can be submitted no more than 75 days before your start date. 20 CFR 655.121

Last day to submit your job order

The job order must be in no fewer than 60 days before your start date. 20 CFR 655.121

• Job order (Form ETA-790/790A) as filed
• Copy of any SWA correspondence

Last day to file your DOL application

File the H-2A application (Form ETA-9142A) at least 45 days before your start date. 20 CFR 655.130

• Filed application and appendices
• Ads you placed and contacts with last season's U.S. workers

Initial recruitment report

Once DOL accepts your application, its acceptance notice sets the date your first recruitment report is due. Keep updating the report through the halfway point of your contract. 20 CFR 655.156

• Initial recruitment report as submitted

Housing inspected and workers' comp in place

Both must be done before the Department of Labor can certify you.

• Housing inspection report
• Workers' compensation policy covering your crew

Expected DOL decision

The Department of Labor is required to decide at least 30 days before your start date if your application is complete. 20 CFR 655.160

• Certification letter (start of your 3-year record clock)

File the USCIS petition

The I-129 petition goes in as soon as you're certified, for named or unnamed workers.

• I-129 petition and receipt notice
• Approval notice

Consulate appointments and travel (optional)

Workers attend visa appointments and travel is booked. We can coordinate this through our partner companies.

• Travel and visa fee receipts

Crew arrives: contract period begins

Give each worker a copy of the job order in a language they understand, no later than the first day of work.

• Signed work contract or job order copy for each worker
• I-9 forms for every worker
• Hours offered and worked, every day

First paycheck: reimburse travel and visa costs

Most farms reimburse inbound travel, meals on the road and visa costs on the first paycheck. Under federal minimum wage law (FLSA), any of these costs that pull a worker's first-week pay below the federal minimum wage must be paid back in the first workweek. The H-2A rule sets the halfway point as the latest date for the rest.

• Travel, meal and visa reimbursement for each worker
• First-week pay calculation showing minimum wage was met

Earnings statements every pay period

Every pay period, give each worker an earnings statement and keep a copy. 20 CFR 655.122

• Earnings statements for every pay period
• Payroll records: hours, rate, deductions

If a worker leaves or doesn't show up

After 5 days in a row of missed work without permission, notify DOL and DHS within 2 working days. 20 CFR 655.122

• Abandonment or termination notices sent
• Date of last day worked

Halfway point: recruitment period ends

Your duty to hire qualified U.S. workers who apply ends today. Finish the final update to your recruitment report and keep it on file; DOL can ask for it in an audit. Any inbound travel and meal costs not already reimbursed are due by today at the latest. 20 CFR 655.156

• Final recruitment report: every U.S. applicant and the outcome
• Proof all inbound travel and meals have been reimbursed

Contract ends

Check the three-fourths guarantee, pay final wages and provide or pay for return travel for workers who complete the contract. 20 CFR 655.122

• Three-fourths guarantee calculation
• Final pay records
• Outbound travel records

Keep records until at least this date

Keep every H-2A record for 3 years from your certification date. DOL can audit any time in that window. 20 CFR 655.167