Mike Caprio Regional business consultant Lawn Doctor, Holmdel, N.J. 1. What all does your job entail, and do you enjoy it? I provide business, agronomy, financial and human resources support to our franchisees in the Southeast. With over 50 years of experience in the industry, Lawn Doctor offers custom lawn care solutions to residential and business consumers. I’ve been with... read more
For those of you who have seen the Bill Murray classic movie, “Groundhog Day,” the H-2B saga seems reminiscent. As part of the deal to end the partial shutdown of the federal government, H-2B advocates in Washington secured language in the bipartisan compromise appropriations bill to allow the secretary of homeland security, in consultation with the secretary of labor, to... read more
On Jan. 25, Congress and the president reached an agreement to reopen the government for 21 days. read more
Rolling the H-2B stone up the Hill again After a 35-day partial government shutdown, Congress passed a temporary three-week spending bill without — you guessed it — H-2B reform language. It was a long shot that H-2B would be included in the temporary spending bill, but advocates for the program, including AmericanHort and the National Association of Landscape Professionals put... read more
The Department of Labor (DOL)’s online portal for H-2B seasonal work visa applications is now fully operational. The online portal, called iCERT, crashed in the early hours of New Year’s Day due to overwhelming demand. The system came back online on Monday, Jan. 7. U.S. lawmakers cap the number of H-2B visas available every year at 66,000, divided evenly between... read more
A tentative agreement to double the number of H-2B visas and implement other reforms to the guest worker program did not move forward in December, as hoped, with critical federal budget bills. The package of H-2B reforms was slated to be included with a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which has been without a fiscal year... read more
