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DOL Operates Nationwide Seasonal Job Service

The Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), has recently clarified procedures for its interstate referral service that links employers looking to fill seasonal agricultural and food processing jobs with workers willing to move temporarily from their areas of residence. State employment service offices throughout the country cooperate in the Agricultural Recruitment System (ARS), formerly referred to as the Intra/Interstate Clearance System or the Agricultural Clearance System. No fees are charged for the service.

To use the system in California, employers (including registered farm labor contractors) or workers would contact their local field office of the state Employment Development Department (EDD). When a farm employer requests help in recruiting nonlocal workers for temporary jobs, the office first ascertains that local workers are in fact not available, then prepares an Agricultural Clearance (Recruitment) Order for signature by the employer, listing the type and duration of work to be done; wages, benefits, and any bonuses offered; type of housing provided; and transportation arrangements.

Employers who recruit through the ARS are obliged to provide no-cost or public housing for workers and - if it is the practice in the area - housing for workers' families. Employers also agree to pay no less than the highest of the: (1) prevailing wages for similar work in the area, (2) federal minimum wage, or (3) state minimum wage. Any performance quality or quantity standards to be used are subject to DOL approval. Workers recruited through the system are protected by regular federal and state standards for health, safety, wages, and working conditions while on the job.

The Clearance Order is sent to employment service offices in other states where qualified and interested workers are available, and it becomes the basis for active recruitment. An employer or representative may go to the worker supply area to interview potential employees.

Once having accepted an interstate job offer, workers check with their local employment service between five and nine working days before the specified beginning of work. Unless told at that time that the start date is changed, they are guaranteed wages for the first week of scheduled employment. The employer provides or pays for transportation from and back to the permanent residence area on at least the same terms as it is commonly provided in the region of employment to workers from the same area of supply.

ARS is distinctly separate from the H-2A Program, through which employers may request approval to hire nonimmigrant foreign nationals for temporary agricultural work when there is a shortage of U.S. resident agricultural workers. But the two programs are related in that employers try to recruit U.S. workers through the ARS as part of the H-2A certification process.

Further information on the Agricultural Recruitment System can be obtained from local EDD offices or from David Webb at the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, P.O. Box 193767, San Francisco, CA 94119-3767 (phone 415/744-7648).

 

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