Originally printed in . . .

Letters to LMD

From Rob Cartwright

Tejon Farming Company, Arvin, CA

Enjoyed reading the last issue (Spring 1991) of Labor Management Decisions and would like to offer some general comments.

Very true - many ag personnel managers, myself certainly included, are having to spend an inordinate amount of time avoiding the minefield of state and federal laws. Very recently, SB-198 is a good example. While many of these laws and regulations are meant to be beneficial and even protective, they are viewed as being punitive.

On the subject of productive labor management, I propose that too many human resources people (and owners) are still living in the past and are still geared to an attitude of "let's only do what we have to do to keep the union at bay."

In a way, the situation today has even worsened because IRCA gave us an overwhelming supply of ag labor and many farmers are now switching (since the union threat has lessened) to FLCs as a way of cutting down on labor costs and "labor problems."

You know and I know that switching over to FLCs is not the panacea that some growers presently think it is, but try to convince them . . . .

The "bottom line," as I see it, is that the farming industry has a wonderful opportunity to stabilize their work force and meet the challenge you spoke of.

From Alan Schroeder

Agricultural and Natural Resource Law Specialist, Cooperative Extension Service, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY

. . . I share your concern, expressed in the second paragraph of your article "Management Choices Front and Center," about managers' fixation on questions about compliance. I suspect that this concern is rooted at least partly in the confusing maze of labor regulations which confront employers in agriculture and other industries. These regulations may be both more immediate and more tangible to farmers, however, than nonlegal principles of personnel management. It is unfortunate that some employers expect rewarding personnel outcomes to occur, regardless of their management style. . . .

I have enclosed my first bulletin on agricultural labor, entitled Labor Laws Affecting Wyoming Agriculture. It focuses on federal regulations, because there are few if any Wyoming state laws specifically targeting agricultural employers or employees.

From Yvette D. Piper

COR·TECH, Hanford, CA

An article in your Spring issue reviewed a software program that writes personnel policies. The closing remarks indicated that the particular software does not have a "search-and-replace" feature and that it is expensive. Our firm offers such a feature, plus others unmatched by the competition, in a product retailing for $100 less than the one reviewed.

Policies PLUS is a do-it-yourself package that allows employers to internally create personnel policy handbooks without the use of consulting services. After the user responds to a short set of questions, the software generates an employee handbook and administrative procedure guidelines. Included with the package is a set of personnel forms and a letter library. We have also created a program called Safety Plan PLUS to help employers comply with the new Cal-OSHA law. It documents a written injury and illness prevention program, including comprehensive safety training for employees and hazard inspection procedures for management.

COR·TECH was founded in 1978 for the purpose of writing personnel policy manuals and employee handbooks for small to mid-sized companies. Our client base is in all 50 states and includes agricultural firms.

[Editor's note: A demonstration version of Policies PLUS provided by Ms. Piper will be reviewed in the Winter 1992 issue of LMD.]

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