Farm Labor Stabilization Pilot Program Frequently Asked Questions

Application | Eligibility | Award Types and Amounts | H-2A | Allowable and Unallowable Uses | Payments & Compliance | Partnerships & Agreements | Pay, Benefits and Working Conditions | Recruitment |Tech Issues

Application 

  1. When is the deadline to apply?

    A: The FLSP grant application period closes January 3, 2024. You are encouraged to provide yourself ample time to complete all registrations as well as the required components mentioned in the NFO.
  1. How do I apply to the FLSP Program grant?

    A:  Please thoroughly review guidance provided via the “How to Apply” webpage for FLSP. Also, as described on the Grants.gov “Registering an Organization” webpage, applying for this grant requires a multi-stage process that includes:
    1. Registering with the System for Award Management (www.SAM.gov),
    2. Registering with Grants.gov, and
    3. Submitting an application and required forms via Grants.gov.

Be aware that:

  • The SAM.gov organization registration process can take up to four weeks to complete. Complete your SAM.gov registration early to ensure you have enough time to meet the application submission deadline.
    • SAM.gov registration is free. If you are visiting a website insists on charging for SAM.gov registration, please check the web address to ensure you are not visiting an unofficial registration link.
  • AMS will only accept electronic applications in response to this NFO, and they must be submitted via Grants.gov. Complete your Grants.gov registration early to ensure you have enough time to meet the application submission deadline. Large files may take longer to load, so avoid waiting until the last minute to submit your application. For an overview of the Grants.gov application process, see Grants.gov’s Apply for Grants webpage. 
  1. Can I submit my application by fax, email, postal mail, or hand delivered?

    A: No. AMS will NOT accept applications submitted by fax, paper, email, postal mail, or hand delivered. All applications must be submitted electronically through the Grants.gov. Please refer to the corresponding FLSP NFO and AMS Late and/or Nonresponsive Applications policy for more information.
  2. Can I edit the FLSP Project Narrative Form?

    A: No. The FLSP Project Narrative Form template cannot be changed (text, tables or pages cannot be deleted nor margins adjusted). Changes might result in the application being removed from consideration, or reviewers will deduct points.
  1. Can AMS staff member review a draft of my application prior to submission?

    A: AMS cannot review draft applications before they are submitted through Grants.gov. However, FLSP intends to offer no cost technical assistance for all applicants. More information is available on the FLSP Technical Assistance webpage.
  1. Can an organization submit more than one application for the FLSP Grant Program?

    A: AMS will only accept one application per entity.

Questions Added 10/19/2023

  1. Can an organization submit more than one application for the FLSP Grant Program?

    A: AMS will only accept one application per entity.

Questions Added 10/19/2023

  1. How will applications be scored?

    Applications will be reviewed and scored competitively using the criteria listed below. See Section 6.0 Project Evaluation Criteria in NFO for more details.
    • Alignment with FLSP Goals and complete Narrative Application Form
    • Responsible Recruitment
    • Supplemental Employee Commitments
    • Description of Employer Practices and Plans
    • Impact on your Operation
  2. If Joint Employers submit an application, all sub—awardees need to also supply each of their own individual separate grants.gov, Sam.gov accounts and need to supply each of their own TIN and UEI, correct?

    No. They do not need to complete those accounts as you are the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR). The AOR is responsible for ensuring that those sub awardees abide by the Fed regulations and the T&Cs of the FLSP grant through their own sub awardees contract with the AOR.

    You will list all sub-awardees in the FLSP Narrative Form (pdf) and the amount they are receiving from you (read more about it in Section 3.0 Subawardee Monitoring and Management in FLSP General Terms and Conditions. Additionally, the application requires you to submit every worksite where farmwork will take place – for all AOR and Subawardee sites, which you will also have to disclose on your Job Order with DOL.
  3. Where do I find the FLSP Application Narrative Form and Commitment Letters (if applicable)? They do not show up in my Grants.gov Workspace. And how do I submit my Contract/Evidence of Participation (if applicable)?

    USDA is only allowed to attach general, Federal forms/form packages DIRECTLY TO Grant.gov Workspaces – this includes the REQUIRED Standard Form SF-424 as well as the Project Abstract Summary. While these forms will automatically populate in Grants.gov once you start your Workspace, the REQUIRED FLSP Application Narrative form and the Commitment Letters (REQUIRED if applying to Silver or Platinum FLSP grants) will not.  However, you can access these application forms from 2 additional locations OUTSIDE of the Grants.gov Workspace. You will need to save them to your computer, and upload them to your grant application Workspace in Grants.gov:
    1. Go to the FLSP “How to Apply” Website: https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/grants/flsp/apply
      1. Links for the Notice of Funding Opportunity, as well as the FLSP Application Narrative Form (REQUIRED) and the Commitment Letters (if applicable) are provided here. Click the links to open the respective forms.
      2. Download applicable forms to your computer.
      3. Make edits/save again to your computer as you need to.
      4. In your Grants.gov Workspace, upload your completed applicable files where it says “Other Attachments Form.” You may upload more than one file through this page. Be sure to verify that your uploads were saved before you move on to complete the rest of your Workspace and grant application!
      5. If you have additional questions about navigating the Workspaces in Grants.gov, visit the Grants.gov support site.
    2. In Grants.gov, under “Search Grants”:
      1. Type in the CFDA number (10.978), or the Opportunity Number (USDA-FSA-OA-FLSP-G-23-0001), then hit the “Search” button.
      2. Click the “Opportunity Number” link (USDA-FSA-OA-FLSP-G-23-0001) once it’s highlighted in the table of available options.
      3. Click the “Related Documents” button. This should provide a table where you can click “USDA-FSA-OA-FLSP-G-23-0001-Other Supporting Documents - FLSP Documents.zip” under the “File Name” column. Clicking this link will open a zip file that contains all the documents.  
      4. Click the specific links within the zip file to open the files you need for the grant application, including that FLSP Application Narrative Form (REQUIRED), or the Commitment Letters (if applicable).
      5. If you want to see the list of documents and open them individually without opening the zip file, click on the down arrow under “File Description” next to “Folder”.  This will show you all the documents without having to unzip the files and you can save them individually to your computer.
      6. Save them to your computer and make edits/save as you need to.
      7. In your Grants.gov Workspace, upload the applicable files as part of the “Other Attachments Form.” You may upload more than one file through this page. Be sure to verify that your uploads were saved before you move on to complete the rest of your Workspace and grant application!
      8. If you have additional questions about navigating the Grants.gov Workspaces, visit the Grants.gov support site.

Applicants that require the Contract/Evidence of Participation documentation will need to provide their own documentation (see the Notice of Funding Opportunity for more information). To attach it to your Grants.gov Workspace:

  1. Upload the applicable files as part of the “Other Attachments Form.” You may upload more than one file through this page. Be sure to verify that your uploads were saved before you move on to completing the rest of your Workspace and grant application!
  2. If you have additional questions about navigating the Grants.gov Workspaces, visit the Grants.gov support site.

Eligibility  

  1. Who are the eligible beneficiaries for these funds?

    A: Eligibility for this competitive grant program is limited to domestic agricultural employers who: (1) anticipate meeting all Department of Labor (DOL) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regulatory requirements for the H-2A program, including demonstrated effort to effectively recruit U.S.-based workers and hire all willing, able, and qualified U.S. workers; and (2) commit to, and indicate capacity to fulfill all Baseline Requirements, as well as any selected (elective) worker benefits and protections outlined in Supplemental Benefits sections of the NFO includes fixed-site employers, joint-employers, agricultural associations, and H-2A labor contractors.

    Please refer to Section 3.1 (Eligible Applicants) of the NFO. 
  2. How do I know if I am eligible to apply?

    A: The program is open to all agricultural employers as defined in Section 9 Definitions of the NFO. There is no restriction on size of your operation or number of seasonally hired workers (neither very few or many) – employers of all sizes are encouraged to apply.

    Based on your employer type, applicants can apply for FLSP funding as a Fixed-site Employer; Farm Labor Contractor; or Joint Employer. Please refer to Section 3.3 (Application Types) (pdf) of the NFO for detailed guidance and implications of applying as a certain type of employer.

    If applicable, potential applicants should discuss with any joint employers or associations as it relates to the Job Order process and the FLSP commitments they intend to make for the grant program. For easy reference, we’ve copied the graphics that help explain the different options to apply, based on the type of employer.

    While the FLSP is distinct from the H-2A, the order in which an applicant applies to the USDA grant program will impact how they apply to the H-2A program. The ways in which an agricultural employer might apply to the H-2A program at DOL may or may not differ from how an employer may choose to apply to FLSP because if awarded, all commitments in the Awardee’s application must be included in their H-2A Job Order.
  3. I am a small employer.  Does this affect my ability to participate in FLSP?

    There is no restriction on size of your operation or number of seasonally hired workers (neither very few or many) – employers of all sizes are encouraged to apply. Hiring only a few seasonal employees does not limit or affect your ability to participate in the grant.

    See Table 1 in the NFO for how the size of your operation (total number of full-time equivalent employees) impacts your potential grant award amount.

    To calculate “Full-Time Equivalency” (FTE) for the year, sum total annual farmworker (“agricultural workers”) hours worked by all directly hired farmworkers, and then divide by 2080 (which assumes a 40-hour workweek for 52 weeks of the year). On the Narrative Application Form, applicants will need to provide cumulative FTE annual totals of both H-2A and domestic worker for all sub-awardee partners/worksites. 

    For example,
    • If you employ 100 H-2A farmworkers and 50 U.S.-based farmworkers throughout the year, you will first add up all H-2A farmworker hours (all 100 workers) for the year and divide that totally number by 2080. Then, will you add up all the total hours for the 50 U.S.-based workers, and divide that sum total by 2080. There is a box on the Narrative Application Form (Question 5) where you will enter total annual FTEs totals H-2A and for U.S.-based workers.
    • If you apply as Joint Employer and your operation employs 5 U.S.-based farmworkers and the secondary employer employs 10 U.S.-based farmworkers, and collectively you hire 100 H-2A farmworkers, you will first add up all hours worked by both operations’ U.S.-based workers (total annual hours from all 15 U.S.-based workers) and divide that totally number by 2080; then, add up all the hours worked throughout the season by the 100 H-2A workers jointly hired and divide that totally number by 2080.

In your FTE totals for agricultural workers you cannot include administrative, management, supervisory, or other non-farmworker employee hours. Please see Section 9 Definitions of the NFO for the definition of agricultural employees.

  1. I intend to use the H-2A program next year to hire farmworkers. Am I eligible?

    This program is open to longtime users of H-2A and first-time users. If you 1) anticipate meeting all Department of Labor (DOL) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regulatory requirements for the H-2A program, including demonstrated effort to effectively recruit U.S.-based workers and hire all willing, able, and qualified U.S. workers; and 2) commit to, and indicate capacity to fulfill all FLSP Baseline Requirements, as well as any selected (elective) worker benefits and protections outlined in the Supplemental Employee Commitments sections of the NFO.

    This includes fixed-site employers, joint employers, agricultural associations, and H-2A labor contractors.

    Any and all FLSP Baseline or Supplemental commitments must be declared on your H-2A Job Order (ETA 790A). Please see Section 1.3 Project Types and Award Levels  in the NFO for more information on disclosing FLSP commitments on your Job Order, if you are awarded a grant and Section 3.2 to learn more about the H-2A program (including links to DOL and DHS regulations).
  2. Is this only for H-2A workers or can it be used for U.S.-based workers as well?   

    The goal of FLSP is to improve food and agricultural supply chain resiliency by addressing the challenges agricultural employers face with labor shortages and instability. The FLSP Program seeks to advance the following Administration priorities:

    Goal 1: Address current labor shortages in agriculture.

    Goal 2: Reduce irregular migration from Northern Central America through the expansion of regular pathways.

    Goal 3: Improve working conditions for farmworkers

We recommend you reviewing Section 3.1 Eligible Applicants in the FLSP Notice of Funding Opportunity (NFO). The H-2A Temporary, Agricultural Employment of Foreign Workers Program (“the H-2A program”) as outlined in Section 218 of the Immigration and Nationality Act is designed to address labor shortages in the case of insufficient U.S.-based workers if other conditions are met, including that the employer has a temporary or seasonal need for the requested agricultural labor or services in the temporary certification application.

There is no limit on the number or percentage of U.S.-based employees that applicants hire, and applicants are required to actively recruit, and, subject to the regulations, employ qualified and available US-based workers, in accordance with the Foreign Labor Certification program requirements. Any award received through this program does not guarantee a successful determination of certification from the DOL Office of Foreign Labor Certification.

  1. Can you clarify what is required for each Baseline, Silver and Platinum levels? 

    The award amount is determined by two things: 1) the number of FTEs and 2) the number of commitments the applicant makes based on the items they choose from Table 3 in Section 1.3 in the NFO. If you choose two for that column, but none from Responsible Recruitment or Partnership Agreements, that makes you eligible for the Silver level of whichever column in the Award
Bundle Responsible Recruitment Pay, Benefits, and Working Conditions Partnership Agreements
Silver Bundle recommended, not required choose at least two recommended, not required
Platinum Bundle required choose at least three choose at least one

Award Types and Amounts 

  1. How do I know what my award amount should be? Are the awards prorated?

    As indicated in Section 1.3 Project Types and Award Levels in the NFO, Award amounts are determined by two factors:
    1. Total full-time equivalent (FTE) agricultural workers (columns in Table 1)
    2. Applicant’s selected award commitment level (rows in Table 1)

      Table 1 in the NFO (and copied below) lists the range of award full-time equivalent (FTEs) agricultural workers employed by the applicant (and any sub-awardees). You can determine which column you are eligible for based on the # of FTEs you have. Please note that your FTEs must fall within the range listed in the category—there is no need to have the maximum FTEs in the category.

      The FLSP three award levels reflect a higher level of commitment to working conditions for farmworkers. To make a decision on which award level you would like to choose, review review Table 3 Supplemental Employee Commitments for Silver and Platinum. It is up to the Applicant to determine which commitments they can make and accomplish. Once the Applicant has made that determination, that determines the award amount for the application.

Please note: the awards are not prorated based on number of employees. They are solely determined by the two factors in this answer.

  1. What is considered an FTE? How do I know which Award Amount I am eligible for?

    To calculate “Full-Time Equivalency” (FTE) for the year, sum total annual farmworker (“agricultural workers”) hours worked by all directly hired farmworkers, and then divide by 2080 (which assumes a 40-hour workweek for 52 weeks of the year). On the Narrative Application Form, applicants will need to provide cumulative FTE annual totals of both H-2A and domestic worker for all sub-awardee partners/worksites. 

    For example,
    • If you employ 100 H-2A farmworkers and 50 U.S.-based farmworkers throughout the year, you will first add up all H-2A farmworker hours (all 100 workers) for the year and divide that totally number by 2080. Then, will you add up all the total hours for the 50 U.S.-based workers, and divide that sum total by 2080. There is a box on the Narrative Application Form (Question 5) where you will enter total annual FTEs totals H-2A and for U.S.-based workers.
    • If you apply as Joint Employer and your operation employs 5 U.S.-based farmworkers and the secondary employer employs 10 U.S.-based farmworkers, and collectively you hire 100 H-2A farmworkers, you will first add up all hours worked by both operations’ U.S.-based workers (total annual hours from all 15 U.S.-based workers) and divide that totally number by 2080; then, add up all the hours worked throughout the season by the 100 H-2A workers jointly hired and divide that totally number by 2080.

In your FTE totals for agricultural workers you cannot include administrative, management, supervisory, or other non-farmworker employee hours. Please see Section 9 Definitions of the NFO for the definition of agricultural employees.

H-2A 

  1. What kind of questions do I need to answer about recruitment? Do we need to answer all of those questions? Do we need to use that EXACT template?

    The purpose of the questions outlined in the letter are to ensure that both the Awardee and recruiter are engaging in the best practices for ethical, safe recruitment of potential workers and to minimize the risk illegal fees, undue worker debt, exploitation, and even human trafficking. The questions reflect best practices identified by the International Labor Organization’s General Principles and Operational Guidelines for Fair Recruitment.

    The letter is only required IF the Applicants choose to use a non-government recruiter, such as any private recruiter or recruiting agency, or if they handle all (foreign) recruit themselves.

    The Recruiter Organizations Template Letter is meant to provide an easy guide for any non-government recruiters to complete. While the rest of the letter format is flexible, recruiters must answer all the questions in the letter, per Table 2. Baseline requirements. USDA has provided the template to help Applicants with the ease of the application by allowing them or their recruiter to fill in the details.   

    If an Applicant chooses to recruit through the NCA Ministries as outlined in Table 3. Supplemental Employee Commitments for Silver and Platinum award levels, they do not need to submit the Recruiter Organizations Template letter.
  2. What does “anticipate meeting all Department of Labor (DOL) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regulatory requirements for the H-2A program, including demonstrated effort to effectively recruit U.S.-based workers and hire all willing, able, and qualified U.S. workers” mean?

    The H-2A temporary agricultural program allows agricultural employers who anticipate a shortage of domestic workers to bring nonimmigrant foreign workers to the U.S. to perform agricultural labor or services of a temporary or seasonal nature. Employment of a seasonal nature is tied to a certain time of year by an event or pattern, such as a short annual growing cycle, and requires labor levels above what is necessary for ongoing operations. Employment is of a temporary nature when the employer's need to fill the position with a temporary worker will, except in extraordinary circumstances, last no longer than one year. The following is a general overview of the process.

    Employers must demonstrate to Department of Labor (DOL) that:
    • There are insufficient U.S. workers available to perform the labor or services in the labor certification application, and
    • That the employment of foreign workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of workers in the U.S. similarly employed.

Please see Section 3.2 About the H-2a Temporary Foreign Agricultural Workers Program for more details about the program and links to DOL and DHS websites about requirements.

  1. The NFO mentions that we need to disclose all our FLSP commitments on the ETA 790 Job Order Form. Do you have recommendations or templates we can use to ensure we do that correctly?

    Because the FLSP is separate and distinct from the H-2A program, we recommend visiting the Department of Labor’s website on the H-2A Temporary Certification For Agriculture Workers for additional direction on the application process.

    We would, however, a minimum, recommend including the details that you included on your narrative application as it relates specifically to the terms and conditions of employment (e.g. all things related to Baseline requirements, as well as anything you chose from the Pay, Benefits & Working Conditions column, or Partnership Agreements if you opted to apply for a Silver of Platinum level). 

Allowable and Unallowable Uses 

  1. Do I need to provide a budget? What kinds of expenses can grant funds cover?

    This is a fixed-award grant. That means that there is no budget requirement. Instead, the award can be used in flexible manner to ensure that you achieve all of the commitments you make as part of your respective award level, including any related costs related to business operations.  Please see the unallowable costs in the Terms and Conditions, 6.1 Allowable and Unallowable Costs and Activities in the FLSP General Terms and Conditions (pdf).
    • Costs related to the hiring and onboarding of U.S. and H-2A workers including, for example but not limited to recruitment, applications, attorneys, and other consulting fees, etc.  
    • Costs related to the operations related to labor costs, such as but not limited to wages, business and administrative costs related to compliance with the program commitments, etc. 
  2. Can I use the funding to provide farmworker housing? 

    Awardees are responsible for finding housing and maintaining its compliance with all local, state and federal regulations related to farmworker housing. The USDA Technical Assistance Provider will support applicants and awardees with guidance related to federal housing requirements.

    While very flexible as a fixed-award grant, FLSP does have limitations on how the grant can be used to address housing requirements related to the H-2A program.  For example, 
    • Allowable for rental costs of land and building space, which includes renting an apartment or other housing complex for seasonal workers. However, lease agreements to own (i.e., lease-to-own or rent-to-own) are not allowable. Any lease or rental agreement must terminate at the end of the FLSP grant period of performance.  
    • Rearrangement and reconversion costs are allowable, including those incurred in restoring or rehabilitating the awardee’s facilities to approximately the same condition existing before the start of the grant agreement, less costs related to normal wear and tear (2 CFR § 200.462).  
    • Any alterations to housing, or reconversion must ensure compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) - 7 CFR § 1(b).  We want to make applicants aware that NEPA activities required by law will take additional time and grantees will not be able to begin those construction activities until NEPA compliance has been met. In other words, NEPA compliance is a complicated bureaucratic process; if you would like to avoid it, consider prioritizing other allowable activities and expenses.

Please see the unallowable costs in the Terms and Conditions, 6.1 Allowable and Unallowable Costs and Activities to learn more about new housing and housing upgrade costs, and all other regulations.

  1. Can I use this funding for construction? 

    We want applicants to be aware that using grant funds to purchase real property results in the Federal government acquiring an interest in that property and would involve more substantial National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review, place certain requirements and restrictions on its use, and would require reporting on the property over time beyond the life of the grant or following of disposal procedures at the end of the grant period.  Applying to use farm labor grant funds to pay off a housing loan is not prohibited, except that funds may not be used to pay interest on borrowed capital. 

    If an applicant is determined to use funds for simple construction, please follow the following guidelines:

    Purchase of property, equipment, and supplies (2 CFR § 200.310-316) is unallowable. Specifically note the $5,000 threshold for equipment and supplies:
    • Equipment means tangible personal property (including information technology systems) having a useful life of more than one year and a per-unit acquisition cost which equals or exceeds the lesser of the capitalization level established by the non-Federal entity for financial statement purposes, or $5,000.
    • Supplies means all tangible personal property other than those described in the definition of equipment. A computing device is a supply if the acquisition cost is less than the lesser of the capitalization level established by the non-Federal entity for financial statement purposes or $5,000, regardless of the length of its useful life.

      However, housing maintenance plan costs may be allowable:
    • Rental costs of land and building space. However, lease agreements to own (i.e., lease-to-own or rent-to-own) are not allowable. The lease or rental agreement must terminate at the end of the grant FLSP period of performance.
    • Rearrangement and reconversion costs, including those incurred in restoring or rehabilitating the awardee’s facilities to approximately the same condition existing before the start of the grant agreement, less costs related to normal wear and tear (2 CFR § 200.462). Any alterations to housing, or reconversion must ensure compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) - 7 CFR § 1(b).

We would encourage applicants to review tables 2 and 3 on pages 8-11 of the Notice of Funding Opportunity for all the allowable costs and activities that the grant funding can support. 

Payments and Compliance 

  1. Will I be audited? What information do I need to have available to ensure I am in compliance?

    According to 2 CFR § 200 Subpart F, non-federal entities that expend $750,000 or more in Federal awards during their fiscal year are responsible for obtaining a single or program-specific audit conducted for that year. In addition to 2 CFR 200 Subpart F, the audit must be performed in accordance with the standards specified in GAGAS.

    Awardees must follow a systematic method to ensure timely and appropriate resolution of audit findings and recommendations, whether discovered because of a federal audit or an audit initiated by the pass-through (sub-awarding) entity.

    Awardees that expend $750,000 or more must submit the single audit or program-specific audit, along with required Form SF-SAC, to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse in accordance with the submission requirements in 2 CRF 200, subpart F.  Such audits must be submitted within 30 calendar days after receipt of the auditor’s report, or nine months after the end of the audit period. The Form SF-SAC and reporting package MUST be submitted electronically to FAC at https://facweb.census.gov/. Any future updates to the location of the FAC may be found at the OMB website.

    Organizations expending less than $750,000 during their fiscal year are not required to have an annual audit for the year but must ensure that their grant related records and those of their subawardees are made available to USDA for review or audit when requested. 

    Financial records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other non-Federal entity records pertinent to a Federal award must be retained for a period of three years from the date of submission of the final expenditure report or, for Federal awards that are renewed quarterly or annually, from the date of the submission of the quarterly or annual financial report, respectively, as reported to the Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity in the case of a subrecipient.
  2. When will I receive payments?

    FLSP payments are made in accordance with achieving key milestones of participation in the FLSP program. Each payment period is roughly associated with estimated minimum costs of participation in FLSP. Please see 7.3 Reporting and Payment Schedule in the NFO and/or Section 4.1 Schedule of FLSP Payments in the General Terms and Conditions. For all awardees, funds will be released according to three distinct payment periods:
Payment Period Amount Milestones Reporting and/or Confirmation Requirement(s)
1 50% of award total Successful H-2A application and recruitment. Launch of worker contracts and completion of KYRR training.
  • Copy of awardee’s accepted Job Order (Form 790-A) from their respective State Workforce Agency
  • Copy of submitted I-129 form
  • Confirmation of completed Know Your Rights and Resources (KYRR) training
  • Confirmation of recruitment
2 25% of award total Completion of FLSP commitments in the first project “growing” season, including research participation. Awardee’s FLSP Interim Report
3 25% of award total Successful project completion, including second year of research participation. Awardee’s FLSP Final Report
  1. What if I have FLSP-related expenses before the first FLSP scheduled payment occurs?

    Per the FLSP General Terms and Conditions, any costs incurred prior to the performance start date of the Federal award (2 CFR § 200.458) are unallowable.
  2. I own more than one (or any # of) farms all within my whole operation. If I only have H-2A workers on one of the farms, do I have to offer all the commitments I make on the FLSP to every worker on every farm?

    Yes, the Awardee must apply all commitments made through the FLSP grant universally to all agricultural employees, H-2A or otherwise, whether hired directly, jointly or via a contractor, at each and every work site within the applicant’s operation throughout the entirety of the grant performance period. This is both a requirement of the FLSP, as well as DOL regulations that ensure “that employing H-2A workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers.”

    Additionally, if awarded, all commitments in the Awardee’s application must be included in their H-2A Job Order. Please see Table 2. Baseline requirements in the NFO.
  3. What happens if I do multiple job orders in my season? How does this impact how I use the grant funds?

    USDA acknowledges that some agricultural employers may have multiple job orders that are spread out throughout the year. In some cases, that may result in large gaps of time from when your first group of workers arrive and begin work to when your last group of workers arrive.

    FLSP payments are made when key milestones have been met by grantees under the FLSP program. Each payment period is roughly associated with estimated minimum costs of participation in FLSP. Please see 7.3 Reporting and Payment Schedule in the NFO and/or Section 4.1 Schedule of FLSP Payments in the FLSP General Terms and Conditions. For all awardees, funds will be released according to three distinct payment periods:
    Payment Period Amount Milestones Reporting and/or Confirmation Requirement(s)
    1 50% of award total Successful H-2A application and recruitment. Launch of worker contracts and completion of KYRR training.
    • Copy of awardee’s accepted Job Order (Form 790-A) from their respective State Workforce Agency
    • Copy of submitted I-129 form
    • Confirmation of completed Know Your Rights and Resources (KYRR) training
    • Confirmation of recruitment
    2 25% of award total Completion of FLSP commitments in the first project “growing” season, including research participation. Awardee’s FLSP Interim Report
    3 25% of award total Successful project completion, including second year of research participation. Awardee’s FLSP Final Report

The program is structured to provide 50% of payment at the completion of certain milestones, including the training of all farmworkers per the KYRR requirement. If you have multiple job orders this means that you will receive this payment upon the completion of the training of all of your agricultural employees in the final job order you do in the first 12 months of your performance period.

If this presents challenges to your operation in terms of being able to participate in FLSP, please review Section 4.2 How to Request Payments in the FLSP General Terms and Conditions to learn more about how you may submit  a request for advance payment.

Additionally, any farmworker employed on your farm during the time of the performance period is considered to be similarly employed and therefore must receive all of the same benefits as the commitments. Therefore, all job orders during the performance period must disclose the terms of employment to ensure that the Awardee is in compliance with both H-2A program requirements as well as FLSP grant requirements.  

Partnerships and Agreements 

  1. I am interested in participating in a Worker-driven Social Responsibility (WSR). How do I go about that?

    A Worker-Driven Social Responsibility (WSR) involves binding agreements between a worker organization and retailers with growers/producers as active participants in the program. Retailers commit to sourcing from producers (i.e., growers) that maintain compliance in a WSR program, and commit to shifting purchases away from producers that fall out of compliance. Essential WSR components include:
    • Workers have played a primary role in the creation and design of the program.
    • Workers receive know-your-rights education (on the clock) conducted by a worker organization.
    • WSR monitoring must be conducted by a financially independent monitoring entity (i.e., if monitoring producers, then not receiving money from producers).
    • WSR monitoring comprehensively investigates and resolves complaints, and conducts continuous monitoring and annual audits that include input from workers.

Employers interested in joining a WSR program should reach out directly to an established, bona fide Worker-driven Social Responsibility program (e.g., Fair Food Program in produce, Milk With Dignity in dairy) for more information.

Pay, Benefits and Working Conditions

  1. Who is or can be considered an “external partner?”

    USDA encourages partnerships with community-based organizations, faith-based institutions, advocacy organizations, higher education institutions, and other institutions that have expertise in occupational health and safety in agriculture, environmental justice, pesticide safety, and other worker-focused benefits. USDA encourages partnerships with community-based organizations and other institutions that have longstanding experience working directly and collaboratively with farmworkers.

    As stated in the FLSP Narrative Form for the Innovative External Partnership supplemental commitment option (Question 14), USDA encourages partnerships with an external entity that has demonstrated capacity to collaborate with farmworkers and employers, and encourages approaches to improve working conditions, especially by engaging farmworkers in the process.

    According to see Section 6.1 Project Evaluation Criteria in the NFO, partner organizations with experience of direct collaboration, service, or engagement with farmworkers, and strong potential to contribute to positive working conditions and worker well-being outcomes will merit higher scores in the grant application evaluation. The letters of commitments from external partners should communicate the organization’s capacity and commitment to the project proposal, the organization’s mission, their experience engaging farmworkers, and note any special contributions, such as: worker-driven approaches, recruitment, retaliation protections, worker education, auditing/monitoring and enforcement, wage benefits, health and safety, etc. Any innovative partnership commitments should thoroughly address all partnership-related questions in the application form.

    Since innovative partnership proposals will be scored competitively, USDA encourages applicants to consider whether their selected partner(s) and the nature of their partnership fully address the criteria indicated in the NFO and FLSP application materials.

Recruitment 

  1. Can I recruit from any country, like South Africa, Mexico or otherwise? Does hiring local vs H2A workers put us at a disadvantage for this grant?

    Applicants may recruit foreign workers from any participating H-2A country. However, the FLSP uniquely takes advantage of the benefits of recruiting from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

    One of the goals of the FLSP is to promote the expansion of regular migration pathways, as part of the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection. The FLSP offers an opportunity to support this commitment, with economic benefits for foreign workers and their families, and professional and economic development opportunities for communities that send their workers to participate in the H-2A program, including the government-led recruitment and vetting of seasonal workers through the Ministries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras supported by the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

    Assuming FLSP employers meet all H-2A requirements (including effort to effectively recruit U.S. based workers), they may recruit from any participating H-2A country. However, all applicants should note the benefits of recruiting from NCA countries within the FLSP program:
    • More competitive: Applicants that commit to recruiting a higher percentage of their H-2A workforce and any new individual H-2A workers from Northern Central America will be scored more competitively, as outlined in Section 6.1 Project Evaluation Criteria in the NFO.
    • Higher award: if combined with the other required commitments for a Platinum level award, a commitment to hire all new (non-returning) individual H-2A workers from Northern Central America qualifies applicants for the highest level of award, a significant financial benefit.
    • NCA Ministry Recruitment is free: employers who utilize the government recruitment and vetting by the Ministries of Labor in Guatemala or Honduras or Ministry of Foreign Affairs in El Salvador incur no cost for recruitment of workers, resulting in potential significant financial savings for employers. NCA Ministry recruitment is free regardless of whether an employer participates in the FLSP program.
    • Free NCA technical assistance: In support of the strong work of NCA Ministries and USAID’s on the ground Mission-assistance, all grant awardees will be eligible for free recruitment and consulate support technical assistance for any workers recruited via the government Ministries in North Central America. The TA provider will engage with employers to establish lines of communication, understand their operations and unique service needs to support identifying and matching worker skillsets and availability to the needs of employers. As necessary, the TA provider will help support consulate scheduling, obtaining worker signatures on documentation, and communicating with employers and workers throughout all steps of the process.
  1. Who should I reach out to if I am interested in recruiting from NCA countries?

There are designated points of contact in each government in the NCA countries ready to help private companies interested in hiring workers through the H-2A program. Please reach out for more information.

In addition, FLSP applicants should reach out to the USDA Technical Assistance provider, who is highly experienced supporting employers that recruit from NCA countries. Seso, the TA Provider, will offer additional support for any employers utilizing NCA ministries for recruitment. Please reach out at NCA@SesoLabor.com. 

Tech Issues 

  1. What should I do if I get a “Please wait…” message when clicking the link for the Narrative Application Form? 

    A:  The file unfortunately will not open in your browser. You will need to manually download and save the file depending on your Internet browser. 
    • First, make sure you have Adobe Reader downloaded and installed on your computer.
    • Once Adobe is installed, now download the Narrative Form to your computer. You might check for the download button in the upper right-hand corner of your browser or right-click and save (depending on your browser and operating system). Save it to your preferred location.
    • Finally, proceed to open the file directly from the location you saved the file using Adobe Reader.
  1. The Narrative Application Form changes based on what I do.  Why?

    The Application Narrative Form is a dynamic PDF form, meaning that it changes according to the responses you give, creating a personalized form for your unique application. To see additional (required) questions for certain question items, you will need to SELECT THE BOX or INDICATE YES, which will reveal additional required questions for that item.

    Some applicants may choose to keep a separate Word Document (or other text file) where they save all the long-form narrative answers to questions in the Narrative Application Form, and which may be easier to edit until you are satisfied with your final draft. Then you can easily copy and paste into the PDF Application Narrative Form.
  2. I can’t see the Supplement Commitment Questions (Question 14, “Supplemental Employee Commitments) in the Narrative Application Form that you’re mentioning. Where are they?

    The Application Narrative Form is a dynamic PDF form, meaning that it changes according to the responses you give, creating a personalized form for your unique application. To see the questions for each Supplemental Commitment in Question 14 “Supplemental Employee Commitments,” you will need to SELECT THE BOX indicating your commitment to that item.  When you select the box for that commitment, all relevant questions for that commitment will appear.

    Some applicants may choose to keep a separate Word Document (or other text file) where they save all the long-form narrative answers to questions in the Narrative Application Form, and which may be easier to edit until you are satisfied with your final draft. Then you can easily copy and paste into the PDF Application Narrative Form.