Work Place Regulations

Lofgren, Newhouse Introduce Farm Workforce Modernization Act

Yesterday, Representatives Zoe Lofgren and Dan Newhouse introduced the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which addresses two critical needs for American agriculture: to retain existing, experienced workers and to ensure a reliable future flow of guest workers. Western Growers Executive Vice President Dave Puglia attended the introduction of the bill in Washington, D.C., along with a host of other stakeholders who played a key role in developing the agreement.

Stephanie Metzinger Oct 31 2019 in Farm Labor

Cal/OSHA Encourages Employers to Protect Workers from Unhealthy Air Quality due to Wildfire Smoke

Cal/OSHA prompts all employers to take the necessary steps to protect workers from harmful exposure to unhealthy air quality due to wildfire smoke. As previously reported in Spotlight, the Office of Administrative Law approved the Protection from Wildfire Smoke regulation, which requires California employers to protect their employees from possible harm created by wildfire smoke.

Requirements for Employers

Jason Resnick Oct 29 2019 in Farm Labor

No Reporting Time Pay Required When Power is Disrupted by Public Utilities

As has been reported, PG&E and other California utilities have implemented power outages intended to mitigate wildfire risk caused by downed power lines due to excessive wind conditions.

The IWC Wage Orders for packing/processing (Wage Orders 8 and 13) and agricultural employees (Wage Order 14) state that if an employee is required to report for work at a scheduled time, and does, but is not put to work or works less than half of his/her usual day, that employee will receive reporting time pay (Section 5).

Jason Resnick Oct 10 2019 in Farm Labor

DOL Rescinds H-2A Advertising Rule

The U.S. Department of Labor has announced the repeal of a rule requiring employers to advertise H-2A jobs in print newspapers. The beneficial new rule becomes effective October 21, 2019.

Jason Resnick Oct 01 2019 in Farm Labor