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Rescission of Coordinated Enforcement Regulations

🇺🇸 United StatesWork Permits1 recorded versionLast change 31 Aug 2026
ConfidenceVery high · 100%

Current rules

The Department of Labor (Department) is rescinding the regulations at 29 CFR part 42 in their entirety. This action formally removes the established formal procedures for coordinated enforcement activities among the Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and Employment and Training Administration (ETA) concerning migrant and seasonal farmworkers.

Overview

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has updated regulations concerning the 9-11 Biometric Fee for H-1B and L-1 visas. This amendment clarifies that the fee is now mandatory for all extension of status petitions, even those without an employer change or where the fraud prevention fee is not applicable. This change aims to align with statutory language and support the implementation of a biometric entry-exit system.

Who is affected by the latest change

  • Migrant and seasonal farmworkers, because the regulation concerns enforcement of protections applicable to them
  • H-2A agricultural workers, indirectly, because WHD and ETA enforcement coordination concerning agricultural employment includes the H-2A programme
  • Agricultural employers subject to federal labour requirements
  • Labour Department agencies involved in agricultural labour enforcement
  • Farmworker advocacy organisations and other stakeholders that engage with the Department on agricultural labour issues

What changed in the latest version

Before

The regulations at 29 CFR part 42 set out formal procedures. These procedures were for coordinating enforcement activities. This coordination was between the Wage and Hour Division (WHD), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the Employment and Training Administration (ETA). It concerned migrant and seasonal farmworkers. These procedures included setting up a National Farm Labour Coordinated Enforcement Committee. They also included setting up Regional Farm Labour Coordinated Enforcement Committees. The rules covered developing enforcement strategies and coordination plans. They also required naming Farm Labour Specialists and Compliance Officers. The rules also set specific needs for collecting data and for how often meetings should happen.

After

The Department of Labour (Department) is cancelling all regulations at 29 CFR part 42. This action formally removes the set formal procedures. These procedures were for coordinated enforcement activities. They applied to the Wage and Hour Division (WHD), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the Employment and Training Administration (ETA). This concerned migrant and seasonal farmworkers.

This cancellation means the Department of Labour's agencies — ETA, WHD, and OSHA — will no longer have to follow specific, previously mandatory structures and processes. These structures and processes were for coordinating enforcement actions related to migrant and seasonal farmworkers. The Department plans to use other, more effective ways to coordinate. These include task forces, groups that work across different agencies, joint investigations, sending cases to other agencies, coordination calls, and talking to interested parties. But the formal regulatory requirements, such as setting up specific committees and making public attendance at meetings mandatory, will stop. For migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their supporters, this means the old regulatory system for checking and coordinating their protections is removed. The new system relies on how the Department works internally, not on clear regulations. This change may alter how enforcement problems are dealt with and solved. Affected groups might need to engage with new, less formally defined, internal processes.

Explained simply

Imagine if a big school had a really old rulebook about how different teachers should talk to each other when helping students, but that rulebook was from when the school was totally different, with old names for classes and teachers who don't even work there anymore. This new change is like the school getting rid of that old rulebook. It doesn't mean teachers stop talking or helping students; it just means they'll use modern ways to work together that make more sense now. For farmworkers, it means the government won't follow an old, specific plan for how its different departments work together to protect them, but they say they'll still do it in new ways.

Frequently asked

Version history

  1. v12Effective 30 Sept 2026EffectiveHigh impact
    Rescission of Coordinated Enforcement Regulations

    The Department of Labour has issued a final rule. This rule cancels its regulations at 29 CFR part 42. These regulations formally set out how enforcement activities related to migrant and seasonal farmworkers should be coordinated. Before this, the regulations made certain structures mandatory. These included national and regional committees, specific contact people, and set meeting times for the Wage and Hour Division (WHD), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the Employment and Training Administration (ETA). The new rule removes these formal coordination rules completely. It takes effect from 30 September 2026. This change affects how the Department's relevant agencies operate internally when protecting farmworkers.

Timeline

  1. Takes effect

    30 Sept 2026

    The Department of Labour is rescinding the regulations at 29 CFR part 42. This action removes the formal procedures and structures previously mandated for coordinating enforcement activities related to migrant and seasonal farmworkers among the Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and Employment and Training Administration (ETA). The regulations at 29

  2. Announced

    31 Aug 2026

    The U.S. Department of Labor has rescinded regulations under 29 CFR Part 42, which previously mandated formal coordination procedures for enforcement activities related to migrant and seasonal farmworkers. This rule, effective on 30 September 2026, removes requirements for specific national and regional enforcement committees and coordination plans, as these structures are deemed obsolete and no l

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