The new restriction on seasonal workers is impacting landscaping businesses across Montgomery County are losing them contracts, writes Laura Benshoff for NewsWorks.

Under the new rules, there is no longer a guarantee that a business applying for H-2B visas can get them. Now, before even submitting an application, a business first has to prove that it has offered the position to a U.S. resident. Then the employer then has to show that a lack of additional workers will cause their business “irreparable harm.”

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The H-2B program is a key part of staffing landscaping jobs in Montgomery County. For example, Plymouth Meeting’s Brightview Landscapes is the country’s largest employer of H-2B workers with close to 1,000 employees on temporary work visas during peak periods.

The U.S. Department of Labor recently approved an additional 15,000 H-2B visas over the new cap of 66,000 seasonal immigrant workers, but most business owners agree this is not enough.

The National Association of Landscape Professionals has called the move a disappointment, adding that it was “too little and too late” to impact the needs of landscape companies, the largest user of H-2B services.”

Read more about the new restrictions at NewsWorks by clicking here.

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Top photo credit: Tim Evanson landscapers – 2016-05-18 via photopin (license)