A Texas federal judge has issued a final ruling striking down the Obama administration’s overtime rule, invalidating the rule on the grounds that it went too far, essentially making all employees who perform exempt duties, but who make less than the high salary threshold “non-exempt.” The judge did note that the Department of Labor (DOL) ...
During a webinar held last week, Western Growers’ human resources experts provided members with a sneak peek into exclusive data from WGs’ 2017 Professional Compensation & HR Practices Survey. The newly-released report is the most comprehensive analysis available on compensation and HR practices for the California and Arizona fresh produce industry, designed to help members ...
The final days of California’s legislative session ended last week with a flurry of activity. High on the list of priorities for leadership included housing, the gas tax, cap-and-trade and a park bond, all of which required a 2/3rds vote for passage. These bills left little room to move other legislation, including SB 623, a ...
Western Growers is collaborating with the California Community College’s Agriculture, Water and Environmental Technologies (AWET) Program to identify the current workforce training gaps in the agricultural sector. The information collected will be used to bring more training to the South Bay region through Workforce Development Offices in each county. Farmers and ranchers in Santa Cruz,…
You were born and raised in Oklahoma, but you have lived in Arizona most of your life. Tell us a little bit about how you ended up in Arizona and what it means to be an Arizonan. I am a Vietnam-era baby and like many other marriages that had a husband who served in the ...
Joseph J. Tomasello, a former Western Growers’ Board Director, passed away unexpectedly on Friday, September 15, 2017, at the age of 81. Joe also served on the board of the Growers Shipper Association, serving as the organization’s president from 1972-1973. According to his obituary, Joe was born on Dec. 8, 1935 in Watsonville, to Mary ...
Western Growers has learned that a relatively new company in eastern Canada may have made recent produce purchases, but there now seems to be conflicting reports of the timeliness of ongoing payments for those purchases. Reports also indicate that the company’s initial monetary net worth, reported by the Red Book, has now been changed. As always, ...