Rooted Labor

You'll know their names before they arrive.

Rooted Labor places H-2A crews with California growers through licensed processing. You'll know who's coming, where they've worked, what they've picked, and who's waiting for them at home.

Talk about your season Check your timing

The situation

You filed the job order. Nobody local applied.

That surprises no one who has run a season in California. The recruitment window opens, the ad runs, and the phone does not ring.

So now you need a crew, a housing plan, a transportation plan, and a filing that holds up — on a timeline that started three months ago. Most growers we talk to are not looking for a lecture on the program. They are looking for someone to take it off the desk.

Underneath all of it is the part nobody puts in a brochure: you are about to hand your harvest to a dozen people you have never met.

A grower standing in his own field early in the season.
A crew is not a number on a purchase order.

Why we started Rooted Labor

The season clock

H-2A runs on federal deadlines, counted backward from your first day of work.

Miss the front of this window and workers arrive late, or not at all. Here is the real sequence, and who carries each piece.

75–60DAYS BEFORE NEED

Job order to the State Workforce Agency

Form ETA-790/790A goes in and the SWA begins recruiting U.S. workers. This window is fixed: no earlier than 75 days, no later than 60.

Licensed agency prepares and files
45DAYS AT THE LATEST

Application for Temporary Employment Certification

Form ETA-9142A goes to the Chicago National Processing Center. The NPC flags any deficiencies within seven calendar days.

Licensed agency files and answers deficiencies
30DAYS BEFORE NEED

Final determination

Recruitment reporting is complete and the certifying officer issues the temporary labor certification.

Licensed agency
I-129PETITION STAGE

Petition to USCIS

The petition goes in with the certification attached. Premium processing is available if the calendar has gotten tight.

Licensed agency and counsel
ArrivalCONSULAR STAGE

Visa interviews, travel, arrival

Workers interview at the consulate, travel is booked, and the crew arrives for the start of work.

Rooted Labor coordinates the crew side

Deadlines reflect the U.S. Department of Labor's published H-2A filing requirements at flag.dol.gov. Emergency filing provisions exist under 20 CFR 655.134 but waive none of the wage, housing or benefit obligations. General information, not advice about your operation.

Tell us your start date

How it works

Three conversations, and the paperwork happens somewhere you don't have to watch it.

  1. FIRST

    We scope the season

    Crop, acreage, dates, headcount, housing. Fifteen minutes on the phone tells us whether H-2A is even the right answer for you — sometimes it is not, and we will say so.

    An agricultural worker in the field holding a harvesting blade at sunrise.
  2. THEN

    Licensed processing takes the filing

    Job order, labor certification, petition, consular steps. This runs through a licensed H-2A agency with the registrations to do it. You get a case contact, not a compliance project.

    Two hands cupping a handful of dry soil, grains falling through the fingers.
  3. BEFORE THEY LAND

    You meet the crew

    Names, photographs, work history, the crops they have handled. You know who is stepping off the bus and what they have done, before they get here.

    A farm worker with his family standing at the edge of a field.
Eleven seasons in stone fruit. Ask him what he looks for.

Profiles open for 2027

Our people

Every other agency sends you a headcount.

That is a strange way to hire a human being, and a worse way to staff a harvest you have spent a year growing.

The workers we place have decades of picking between them — stone fruit, table grapes, citrus, row crops, nursery. They have families, home towns, and reasons for making the trip. When they agree to it in writing, we put their story in front of you, in their own words.

We are building those profiles now, with signed consent from every worker, for the 2027 season. This is what that section will hold.

Photograph and name

Home region, years in the field, crops worked, equipment operated, and references from prior seasons.

In their own words

Why they make the trip, what they are good at, and what they want a grower to know before the first day.

Signed consent on file

No profile goes on this page without a written release from the worker, in Spanish, that they can withdraw.

Profiles open for the 2027 season. We would rather show you nothing than show you a stock photo with a made-up name on it.

Straight answers

Things worth saying plainly, because this industry has earned some suspicion.

Growers pay. Workers never do.

No worker placed through Rooted Labor is charged a recruitment fee, a placement fee, or a deposit. Not by us, and not by anyone we work with. If a worker is ever asked for money in our name, we want to hear about it.

We don't file your petition ourselves.

Rooted Labor connects you with licensed H-2A processing and handles the crew side. We will tell you exactly whose license your filing sits under before you sign anything.

The stories are real.

Every profile is a real worker who signed a written release, in Spanish, for their name, photograph and history to be shown to prospective employers. We polish the writing. We do not invent the person.

Three percent goes out the door.

Three percent of what Rooted Labor earns goes to [CHARITY NAME — a real organization you actually pay]. We publish the figure each year.

We'll tell you when the answer is no.

H-2A is wrong for plenty of operations — wrong season length, wrong headcount, housing that will not pass inspection. Hearing that on the first call costs you fifteen minutes. Finding out in April costs you the harvest.

Questions growers actually ask

Before you spend a call on it

How far ahead do I need to start?

The job order is due to the State Workforce Agency between 75 and 60 days before your first day of work, so realistic planning starts three to four months out. Later than that and you are into emergency filing, which is possible but tightens everything downstream.

What does it cost?

It depends on headcount, season length, and how much of the housing and transportation you already have in place. We will give you a written estimate before anything is filed, with the agency fee and the government fees broken out separately so you can see what is going where.

Do I have to provide housing?

Yes. H-2A requires the employer to provide housing that meets federal or state standards and passes inspection, plus transportation between housing and the worksite. If your housing will not pass, that is the first thing we look at, because it is the most common reason a season falls apart.

What happens if a worker leaves mid-season?

Contract abandonment happens, and any agency claiming otherwise is selling you something. We stay involved through the season rather than disappearing at arrival, and we work the replacement process with you rather than leaving you to it.

Can I request specific workers back next year?

Yes, and it is the single biggest efficiency gain available to you. A crew that knows your ground, your equipment and your expectations is worth more in year two than any new hire. Being able to name the people you want back is a large part of why we build profiles at all.

Are you a law firm?

No. Rooted Labor is not an immigration law firm and does not provide legal advice. Petitions are filed by licensed agencies and, where needed, qualified counsel. If your situation calls for a lawyer, we will say so.

Talk about your season

Tell us the crop and the dates.

If H-2A is wrong for your operation, we will tell you on the first call and you will have lost fifteen minutes. If it is right, you will know what the next ninety days look like before you hang up.

hello@rootedlabor.com

[PHONE NUMBER]

Serving growers across California. [Add counties or regions once you know where you're dispatching.]