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KEY EMPLOYMENT REQUIREMENTS FOR
AGRICULTURAL WORKPLACES IN CALIFORNIA
(Revised March 2000)
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for Spanish
KEY EMPLOYMENT REQUIREMENTS FOR
AGRICULTURAL WORKPLACES IN CALIFORNIA
(Revised March 2000)
Index:
Workers' Compensation
* Employer must have a workers' compensation insurance policy or be
permissibly self-insured
* Workers' compensation notice must be posted and given to employees
Unemployment Insurance
* Employment Development Department registration number
Federal Taxes
* Internal Revenue Service employer identification number
Employment Eligibility
Verification
* Must verify on INS Form I-9 the eligibility of every newly-hired
employee to work in the United States
Child Labor
* Minors below age 12 may neither work in agriculture nor be near moving
equipment or unprotected chemicals or water hazards (grower's children
excepted)
* Permits to Work and Permits to Employ must be on file for at least
3 years for older minors (grower's children and high school graduates excepted)
* Limits on hours of work must be observed (grower's children excepted,
but must attend school when in session)
* Minors below age 18 may not mix or load certain pesticides
* Minors below age 16 may not work in hazardous agricultural occupations
(example: near moving machinery) (grower's children excepted)
* Minor children notice must be posted
* Property owner who benefits from a minor's employment and who knowingly
allows child labor violations to occur is liable for them, even if not
the minor's employer
Farm Labor Contractors
(FLCs)
* Verify that FLC is federally registered and state licensed (best
way: get and keep a photocopy of each document)
* Keep for at least 3 years a copy of FLC's payroll records for FLC
crews supplied to grower
* Grower who is a joint employer of FLC's employees or who uses an
unlicensed FLC is liable for FLC's violations
* Recommended: Have FLC direct his workers' compensation carrier to
send you a certificate of insurance
Other Posters and Notices
* Other IWC orders as applicable
- 4 (e.g., clericals of an employer whose
only other employees are covered by Order 14
- 8 (post-harvest handling of commodities not produced
by the employer, usually including its clericals)
- 13 (post-harvest handling of commodities produced
only by the employer, usually including its clericals)
* Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act poster
* Employee Polygraph Protection Act poster
* California nondiscrimination poster (5 or more employees)
* Federal nondiscrimination poster (15 or more employees)
* Federal Minimum Wage poster
* Cal/OSHA: Safety and Health Protection on the Job; Form No.
200; others as applicable, based on activities
* Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC) Order 14 (ag occupations)
Minimum Wage
* In general, all nonexempt employees must be paid at least $5.75/hr
no matter whether wages are earned on an hourly, piece-rate, commission
or salary basis
* Piece-rate earnings are averaged over a workweek to determine whether
minimum wage is achieved
Housing
and Meals Credited Against Minimum Wage
* Employee must authorize in writing
* IWC orders limit credit amounts
Overtime Premium Pay
* Almost all nonexempt employees--even those paid a salary or by piece
rate--must receive overtime premium pay
* IWC Order 14
- Hours over 10 in a workday and first 8 hours on
7th day of work in a workweek: 1 1/2 times regular pay rate (RPR)
- Hours over 8 on 7th day of work in a workweek:
2 times RPR
* IWC Orders 4, 8 and 13 (and most others)
- 9th-12th hours in a workday, hours over 40 in
a workweek, and first 8 hours on 7th day of work in a workweek: 1 1/2 times
RPR
- Hours over 12 in a workday and over 8 on 7th day
of work in a workweek: 2 times RPR
* Exceptions
- Irrigators (over 1/2 of time worked in a workweek)
- Drivers of certain large trucks (generally, weighing
at least 6,000 lbs. with 3 or more axles)
- Certain part-time agricultural employees (up to
6 hours in a workday and 30 hours in a workweek)
* Caution: An employee who during a workweek processes, packs
or otherwise handles after harvest any amount of any commodity not produced
by his employer must be paid 1 1/2 times RPR for all hours worked over
40 in that workweek, even if most of the employee's work is agricultural
Deductions not mandated by law require employee's written authorization
Payment of Wages
* At least semimonthly (exception: at least weekly for FLC employees)
* Immediately upon discharge or layoff
* Within 72 hours after voluntary quit
Itemized Statement given to
employee with wage payment
* Employee name and social security number
* Basis on which wages are paid (for example, "$5.75/hr." or "$.20/vine
pruned")
* Total hours worked
* Number of piece work units produced (if applicable)
* Total pay period earnings
* Purpose and amount of any sum withheld
* Net pay
* Employer's name, address and IRS employer ID number
* Inclusive dates of pay period
Employer Records
* Employer's name and address
* Employee's name, record identifier (if any), permanent address, sex,
occupation, social security number and, if under age 18, birthdate and
designation as minor
* Day and time when workweek starts
* Starting and ending times of each work period (meal periods in which
operations stop and mandatory rest periods excluded)
* Number of piece work units produced, if applicable
* Total hours worked each workday, workweek and payroll period
* Date, purpose and amount of any sum withheld from or added to wages
* Net pay
* Total pay period earnings, including value of board, lodging or other
compensation
* Basis on which wages are paid (for example, "$5.75/hr." or "$.20/vine
pruned")
* Pay date and period payment covers
* Keep records for at least 3 years; but it's prudent to keep them
for 4 years to defend claims under state's unfair competition laws (Business
& Professions Code sections 17200-17209)
Reporting Time Pay
* Half of usual day's pay (at least 2 but not more than 4 hours) for
employee who reports for work but is given less than 1/2 of usual day's
work; most typical exception is for an Act of God or other cause beyond
employer's control
Tools and Equipment
* Employer must provide and maintain required or necessary tools and
equipment for employees earning less than twice the minimum wage
* Funds securing return of equipment deposited in a joint bank savings
account
* Deduction from employee's final pay for lost equipment allowed only
upon employee's prior written authorization and only where loss is due
to employee's dishonest, willful or grossly-negligent act
Meal Periods
* Allow a 30-minute unpaid meal period in a 5-hour work period; employer
and employee may waive it if a work period of 6 or fewer hours will complete
day's work; employer and employee may agree to on-duty paid meal period
if task requires it
Rest Periods
* Allow a 10-minute paid rest period per 4 hours of work or major fraction
thereof, based on total workday hours; none required if employee works
under 3 1/2 hours in a workday
Transportation of Workers
* Licensing of drivers
* Vehicle safety standards and inspection stickers
Housing
* Inspections and permits under state Employee Housing Act if 5 or
more employees are housed
* Compliance with federal housing standards for migrant agricultural
workers
* Federal migrant agricultural worker housing poster
Field Sanitation
in hand-labor operations
* Toilet Facilities
- Crew with 1-4 employees: one toilet, even if a
mixed-sex crew
- Crew with 5 or more employees: one toilet per
20 employees of each sex, or fraction thereof
- Toilet paper in suitable holder
- Screened
- Chemical toilet waste water tank must be able
to hold at least 40 gallons and must contain effective odor-control
and solid-liquefying chemicals
- Keep service & maintenance records for at
least 2 years
* Handwashing Facilities
- One per 20 employees or fraction thereof
- Water tank must be able to hold at least 15 gallons
and be refilled with potable water as necessary
- Soap and single-use towels provided
- Sign posted stating: This water is for handwashing
only
* Toilet and Handwashing Facilities
- Located near each other
- Within a 1/4-mile or 5-minute walk of employees,
whichever is shorter; where terrain prevents this, then at the point closest
to vehicular access
- Ventilated and rigidly-constructed, with self-closing
doors, lockable from inside
- Inside surfaces must be nonabsorbent, smooth,
readily-cleanable, and light-colored
- Clean and sanitary
- Alternative compliance: May provide transportation
to facilities if: (1) employees are performing fieldwork for under 2 hours
(including transportation time) or (2) 4 or fewer employees are engaged
in hand-labor operations on a given day
* Drinking Water
- Pure, cool water must always be readily available
- Dispensed by fountain or single-use cups
- Container must be covered, protected and kept
clean
* Good hygiene practices notice
Other Safety and
Health Requirements
* Written Injury and Illness Prevention Program
* Written Hazard Communication Program
* First-aid kit and person trained in its use
Migrant
and Seasonal Ag Worker Protection Act Disclosure
* Disclose this information in writing to a recruited migrant or seasonal
day-haul agricultural worker when the worker is recruited and to a seasonal
agricultural worker upon the worker's request when the worker is offered
employment:
- Place of employment, including employer's name
and address
- Wage rates (including piece rates) to be paid
- Crops and activities the worker may be employed
in
- Period of employment
- Any transportation, housing and other benefit
to be provided, and any cost to be charged for them
- Workers' compensation and unemployment insurance
- Existence of any strike or other concerted work
stoppage
- Existence of any arrangement under which the grower
or FLC receives a commission or other benefit from sales to workers
- Workers' compensation carrier and policyholder
information