Guest Worker Program
H-2B What is it & what does it mean?
Your satisfaction and our success are directly linked to the strength of Signature Landscape’s front-line work crews. We spend a significant amount of time, energy and resources staffing our crews with workers who can deliver the quality results you expect. But maintaining our work force is an ongoing challenge because the landscaping business is largely seasonal in our area of the country. Work loads are higher in summer months, less so in the winter.
Our best efforts to recruit locally have fallen short of our needs, however. Part of the solution we have found is to participate in the H-2B visa program, whereby foreign workers who do not aspire to become U.S. citizens may complete temporary work assignments in the U.S., then return home.
The H2B program has allowed us to legally hire documented workers, many of whom are from Latin American countries. As of 2007, Signature had participated in the H-2B program for seven consecutive years. We employed 93 H-2B status employees and 42 U.S. citizens/permanent residents for our seasonal work that year.
This guest worker program has allowed us to invest in training for workers who return each season, ensures that they pay federal income taxes and FICA, and it has provided fair and safe employment for them. To participate, Signature Landscape must apply as an employer each year, and each guest worker is on file with the State and U.S. Departments of Labor, the USCIS, the U.S. State Department, the Border Patrol, the Social Security Administration, and the state DMV.
We at Signature Landscape are aware that immigration is a controversial topic in the U.S., and we acknowledge and value the varying viewpoints of stakeholders on all sides of the issue. As a small seasonal business we have joined with many others like us – other landscaping businesses, construction and roofing firms – to call for a sensible approach to legal seasonal workers. To learn more about the H-2B visa program, click here for a recently-updated FAQ issued by U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services regarding the H-2B program in 2009.
