The state of California Employment Development Department issued a guidance memo for employers regarding reporting AB 1513 (piece-rate legislation) back payments and paying required contributions to EDD. The notice advises employers to prepare a Quarterly Contribution Return and Report of Wages (DE 9), and pay unemployment insurance, state disability insurance and employment training tax…
Agricultural employers have been exempt from California Labor Code section 551 which provides that “[e]very person employed in any occupation of labor is entitled to one day’s rest therefrom in seven” and section 552 which safeguards that statutory entitlement by providing that “[n]o employer of labor shall cause his employees to work more than six ...
As previously reported in Spotlight, agricultural employees are now thought to be covered under the seventh-day’s rest provisions in Labor Code sections 551 and 552, as of January 1, 2017, pursuant to AB 1066. However, the irrigator exemption is probably left unchanged until January 1, 2019. AB 1066 has caused many employers and legal practitioners ...
The final State Water Resources Control Board (Board) regional workshop on proposed rule changes to the Water Quality Control Plan and unimpaired flow proposals for the Delta was held yesterday in Sacramento. The proposal, which would increase unimpaired flows from the San Joaquin River by a minimum of 40 percent to aid salmon populations, is ...
Governor Doug Ducey gave his third State of the State address yesterday to open the 2017 Legislative Session. Addressing both the House and Senate and their newly-elected leaders — Senate President Steve Yarbrough and Speaker Javan Mesnard — including 24 freshman legislators, Ducey laid out his plan for the year. Much of the focus of the ...
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced it is delaying the January 16, 2017, effective date for requiring import certificates on shipments of organic commodities originating in Mexico. A new implementation date has not been announced. USDA-AMS stated it would notify stakeholders once the new effective date has been determined. It…
Governor Brown’s budget proposes an increase of five new positions and $1 million for the Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program (ILRP) Waste Discharge Permit Fund. During the budget briefing conference call with state agencies, Western Growers’ staff questioned why the $1 million increase was necessary. Since 2004, the governor’s budget has capped the ILRP budget at ...
On November 14, 2016, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) released a revised Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 for employer use. Employers must use the updated Form I-9 starting no later than Sunday, January 22, 2017. Among the changes in the new version, Section 1 asks for “other last names used” rather than ...
The Produce Marketing Association and United Fresh Produce Association Joint Committee on Responsible Labor Practices, has published a proposed “Ethical Charter.” The committee is seeking public feedback on the draft Ethical Charter, which purports to “provide a framework for demonstrating and driving responsible labor practices across the global fresh produce and floral supply chains.”…
The Secretary of Treasury in Mexico (SAT) has implemented a contingency plan in the event protesters block ports of entry between Mexico and the United States. Information has circulated that various groups may block the ports tomorrow to protest President-elect Donald Trump’s swearing-in. Mexican border agents will work overtime tomorrow, and will work extended hours ...
Following a Trump White House directive signed on January 20, 2017, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is issuing a 60-day stay on its final rule to allow the importation of fresh lemon fruit from northwest Argentina into the continental United States. The final rule was promulgated on ...
IRVINE, Calif., (January 18, 2017) — In a letter delivered to California Governor Jerry Brown yesterday, Western Growers President and CEO Tom Nassif urged the governor to direct the State Water Resources Control Board (Board) “to begin anew” on a proposal that would update minimum flow standards for the Lower San Joaquin River, calling for a ...
IRVINE, Calif., (January 19, 2017) — In response to President–elect Donald J. Trump naming Sonny Perdue as the nominee to head the Department of Agriculture, Western Growers President and CEO Tom Nassif issued the following statement: “We support the nomination of former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue as Secretary of Agriculture and congratulate him on gaining the ...
(Editor’s Note: Agralogics was the “Judge’s Choice” winner during the Innovation Arena II at Western Growers 91st Annual Meeting in Kauai this past November.) Though he grew up on a farm in the Punjab region in northern India, Sumer Johal, the CEO and founder of Agralogics, didn’t “connect the dots” between the role of information ...
On Friday, January 13, 2017, William B. Gould IV announced his resignation as chairman of the Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB), effective no later than February 22, 2017. The resignation letter cited frustrations with the state bureaucracy for stalling his key proposal, a proposed rule that would expand ALRB agents’ access to fields for purposes ...