H-2A employers may request early termination of the work contract due to contract impossibility caused by an Act of God, such as crop loss from hail damage.  The employer's attorney or agent must request the relief in writing from the Certifying Officer at US DOL-OFLC-CNPC.  If granted by the Certifying Officer, the employer will be required to pay or provide outbound transportation and subsistence pay to the worker.  In addition, the employer must make sure to meet the 3/4 guarantee from the time the worker arrived to commence work for the employer up to the approved termination date.  Under this relief all the H-2A workers on the contract are released to another approved H-2A employer or return home.

 Alternatively, an H-2A employer may request a reduction in force in the number of workers if the employer needs to keep a few workers for the remainder of the work contract.  We expect no issue getting approval for early termination or a reduction of force caused by the recent hail damage in Pender and Bladen Counties.  Here is the text of the applicable H-2A regulation:

20 CFR 655.122

(o) Contract impossibility. If, before the expiration date specified in the work contract, the services of the worker are no longer required for reasons beyond the control of the employer due to fire, weather, or other Act of God that makes the fulfillment of the contract impossible, the employer may terminate the work contract. Whether such an event constitutes a contract impossibility will be determined by the CO. In the event of such termination of a contract, the employer must fulfill a three-fourths guarantee for the time that has elapsed from the start of the work contract to the time of its termination, as described in paragraph (i)(1) of this section. The employer must make efforts to transfer the worker to other comparable employment acceptable to the worker, consistent with existing immigration law, as applicable. If such transfer is not affected, the employer must:

(1) Return the worker, at the employer's expense, to the place from which the worker (disregarding intervening employment) came to work for the employer, or transport the worker to the worker's next certified H-2A employer, whichever the worker prefers;

(2) Reimburse the worker the full amount of any deductions made from the worker's pay by the employer for transportation and subsistence expenses to the place of employment; and

(3) Pay the worker for any costs incurred by the worker for transportation and daily subsistence to that employer's place of employment. Daily subsistence must be computed as set forth in paragraph (h) of this section. The amount of the transportation payment must not be less (and is not required to be more) than the most economical and reasonable common carrier transportation charges for the distances