Growers depend on farmworkers. Growers nationwide have had problem recruiting farmworkers for years due partly to low unemployment and altering immigration insurance policies. The one choice for growers to complement their workforce is the H-2A non permanent visa program.
The March 28 Seattle Instances article “Why Washington’s farmworkers are disappearing” didn’t embody growers’ perspective or an correct image of how we make use of farmworkers. It’s essential to set the report straight.
The H-2A non permanent agricultural employee program requires lively recruitment of native employees. Jobs are marketed to native employees by growers and WorkSource starting about 60 days earlier than they begin. Farmworker advocacy teams can select to be notified when H-2A jobs are filed to allow them to unfold the phrase to native farmworkers. The notices and on-line listings embody the telephone quantity, handle and electronic mail handle of the individuals hiring.
The employer should pay for transportation and housing for all H-2A staff. Employers should additionally pay at the least a “tremendous minimal wage” set by the U.S. Division of Labor for all H-2A jobs labored by overseas and native employees. The present H-2A minimal wage in Washington state is $19.25 per hour, which applies whether or not pay is hourly or by the piece. The H-2A minimal wage virtually all the time will increase yearly and has elevated wages throughout the board in Washington agriculture. Farms which can be close to a farm paying H-2A wages improve pay to match the H-2A wages, or face dropping staff as a consequence of competitors.
Washington surveys farmworkers and farm employers about wages yearly. These outcomes are based mostly on responses by the people surveyed and so have to be thought of “anecdotal,” whether or not the response is from a farmworker or farm employer. An announcement was made within the article that the farm wage surveys presently accomplished by Washington usually are not “actual” as a result of they depend on the verbal responses of employers. However the brand new farmworker survey required by SHB 2226, handed within the 2024 legislative session, can even be anecdotal, because it depends on verbal responses from farmworkers as a substitute of an examination of payroll information.
The state Agricultural and Seasonal Workforce Companies workplace, which processes and displays H-2A purposes, has Spanish-speaking employees go to each farm with an H-2A contract yearly. They overview payroll on some farms to find out if the wages promised are being paid and have discovered no issues with wages up to now. On farms the place the ASWS employees don’t take a look at payroll, they move out contact data to employees in order that they know make a criticism or ask questions on their pay, working situations or authorized rights. Moreover, the U.S. Division of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division performs audits of H-2A employers to ensure they’re paying required wages.
Regulatory compliance is crucial to farming in Washington. Farmworkers on this state are lined by employees’ compensation, minimal wage, unemployment insurance coverage, additional time, sick go away, anti-discrimination legal guidelines, the Paid Household and Medical Depart Act, the Household Care Act, work guidelines for minors, relaxation and meal breaks, the complete spectrum of occupational security and well being guidelines and extra on the state stage. Legal guidelines such because the FMLA and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Employee Safety Act apply on the federal stage.
Washington’s residents, and the individuals who work in Washington’s agriculture business, deserve correct data within the media concerning the employment and labor requirements protecting farmworkers of their state.
