Under existing federal law, an H-2A visa permits certain persons to work in the United States as a temporary nonimmigrant agricultural worker. Regulations of the United States Department of Labor establish minimum wages and working conditions for H-2A workers, including temporary agricultural foreign workers who perform herding or production of livestock on the range. Under the H-2A visa program, employers must offer, advertise in recruitment and pay each temporary agricultural foreign worker who performs herding or production of livestock on the range a wage that is at least the highest of various wage sources listed in those federal regulations, including the applicable minimum wage imposed by state law. (8 U.S.C. § 1188; 20 C.F.R. §§ 655.200-655.235) Section 1 of this bill designates such a worker as an “H-2A visa herder” for the purposes of the provisions of this bill. Existing law requires an employer to pay wages to an employee for each hour the employee works. (NRS 608.016) Existing law authorizes a domestic service employee who resides in the household where he or she works and his or her employer to exclude from the domestic service employee's wages certain periods for meals, sleep and other periods of complete freedom. (NRS 608.215) Sections 1-5 of this bill enact similar provisions for H-2A visa herders. Section 1 authorizes an H-2A visa herder and his or her employer to agree in writing to exclude from the herder's wages certain periods for meals, sleep and other periods of complete freedom from all duties. Under section 1, if a period excluded from the H-2A visa herder's wages is interrupted by a call to duty, the interruption must be counted as hours worked for which compensation must be paid. Section 1 also provides that if it is found by the parties that there is a significant deviation from the initial agreement, a separate record must be kept for the period in which the deviation occurs or a new agreement must be reached that reflects the actual facts. Existing law requires every employer to establish and maintain records of wages for each employee, including, with certain exceptions, the total hours employed in the pay period by noting the number of hours per day. (NRS 608.115) Section 3 of this bill exempts an employer of an H-2A visa herder from this requirement. Section 4 of this bill requires the Labor Commissioner or the representative of the Labor Commissioner to cause the provisions of this bill to be enforced and violations thereof to be prosecuted. Section 5 of this bill provides that a person who violates the provisions of this bill, or any regulation adopted pursuant thereto, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 608.016, 608.115, 608.180, 608.195
BDR: 608.016, 608.115, 608.180, 608.195