Estimating Costs of Employing Citrus Harvesters through the H-2A Guest Worker Program

A steadily increasing number of foreign agricultural workers are being hired through the H-2A visa program. This paper outlines important components of the H-2A program as a discussion of two sections – pre-employment hiring and management during the contract period. A 2014 survey of Florida citrus harvesting companies gathered cost data on the pre-employment components, which include filing fees, visa costs, advertising, bond payments, in-country worker recruitment, in-bound and out-bound transportation from Mexico, and housing rental costs. Pre-employment/hiring costs were estimated to be more than $1,900 per worker with housing and travel costs responsible for 60 and 20% of total costs, respectively. The paper describes how the H-2A program changes the employment status of workers with the resulting consequences on how H-2A workers are managed differently than domestic workers. More research is needed to estimate the net financial implications to employers when they shift from domestic to H-2A workers.