The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) has announced that it is preparing to issue a proposed regulation in February 2016 that is intended to further restrict the use of pesticides near schools. This regulation would likely become effective in 2017. WG has expressed serious concerns about proceeding with this proposed regulation to CDPR and ...
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) has placed southern Stanislaus County under quarantine following the detection of two Asian citrus psyllids within the city of Turlock. According the department’s release, “The quarantine also takes in a portion of northern Merced County along its border with Stanislaus County. The quarantine zone measures 101 square miles,…
In late December, amidst the fury of the holiday season, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey announced the members of the newly-formed Governor’s Water Augmentation Council. According to a press release issued by the Governor’s office, the Council was created “to ensure the certainty and vitality of Arizona’s future water supplies” and is expected to begin meeting ...
Western Growers works closely with the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California. Recently, that organization released some valuable tax, wage rate, insurance and other business related information for employers that we wanted to pass along to our members. Thank you to Jim Bogart, President/General Counsel, Grower-Shipper Association of Central California and his staff for compiling this…
The Agricultural Personnel Management Association’s (APMA) Conference for Human Resource, Labor and Safety Professionals in the Agricultural Industry is just around the corner! The conference will feature keynotes and workshops on topics related to human resource management and employer practices. Among the speakers are WG Vice President and General Counsel Jason Resnick and Sr. Vice…
Officials from the U.S. Consulate General in Nogales, Mexico, met yesterday with Western Growers members in Yuma to seek ways to better serve the H-2A-user community. Participants from the Consulate, included: Consul General, Christopher Teal; Vice Consul, Leshawna Johnson; and Public Relations staffer, Erika Munoz Burgos. Western Growers Board Member Gary Pasquinelli hosted the lunch ...
Governor John Hickenlooper and the Colorado Agricultural Leadership Program, in conjunction with the Colorado Department of Agriculture and Colorado State University are set to host the 25th annual Governor’s Forum on Colorado Agriculture on February 18 in Denver. The focus of the 2016 Governor’s Ag Forum will be “The Next Generation of Agriculture” and will ...
Child nutrition programs have been the source of contention for the past two years with fights occurring over everything from whole grain-rich requirements and sodium restrictions to a fresh produce mandate. Yesterday, the Senate Agriculture Committee Nutrition and Forestry Committee put those fights to rest — at least for now — when it favorably reported ...
Yesterday, the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the U.S. Department of Labor released new guidance called an “Administrator’s Interpretation” (AI) that expansively defines joint employment under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA). The guidance identifies common scenarios where the WHD would consider an employee to ...
Trade is top of mind for many companies. In 2015, Congress debated and passed Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), providing the executive branch with the flexibility to craft trade deals and Congress with the ability to streamline their review and passage. Negotiations with member countries of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) also concluded in late 2015, ...
The following is an excerpt of a press release issued by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) on additional areas in Fresno County that have been quarantined due to Asian Citrus psyllid detections: “A new portion of Fresno County has been placed under quarantine for the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) following the detection ...
If you own a business in California or do business here and your company has 50 or more employees, anyone who acts as a supervisor at your company must, by law, take sexual harassment prevention training. Even if you don’t have 50 employees or operate your business in California, training is strongly recommended to protect ...
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey announced that he will hold a hearing in Yuma on February 1, 2016, to brief the public and media on the proposed Fiscal Year 2017 executive budget. Lorenzo Romero, director of the Governor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting (OSPB), will brief the public on the proposal and will take questions. ...
Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) announced that employers who participate in H-1B, H-2A and H-2B temporary nonimmigrant visa programs should expect delays due to “technical network problems.” The technical problems with the iCERT Visa Portal System (iCERT System) is resulting in delays in the processing of temporary ...
Last week, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) released the Final Guidelines and Proposal Solicitation Package (PSP) for stakeholders who wish to apply for the 2015 Agricultural Water Use Efficiency Grants. The deadline to submit applications is March 30, 2016. $30 million in grant funding is available for a wide range of agricultural water ...
PickJustice.com, a website dedicated to farm workers’ rights, recently posted a video charging the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board and the United Farm Workers Union with colluding to prevent the farmworkers’ votes from being counted in a decertification election demanded by the workers. Farm workers featured in the video share their disappointment at the way ...
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has recently begun to intensify its Form I-9 enforcement activities. It has been reported that a flurry of Notice of Inspections (NOIs) have recently been sent to Santa Maria agricultural employers. The NOI results in an audit of the employer’s Form I-9s and often triggers the dismissal of a ...
On Wednesday, February 10, Senator Feinstein introduced the California Long-Term Provisions for Water Supply and Short-Term Provisions for Emergency Drought Relief Act (S. 2533). According to the Senator’s press release: “The revised bill I’m introducing today is the product of two years of work. It includes provisions from Democrats and Republicans alike… This bill won’t ...
The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced that it will release draft Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) regulations this week as part of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). DWR is required to finalize GSP regulations by June 1, 2016. An overview of the draft regulations was presented to the California Water Commission yesterday and ...
Last week, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) released its draft Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) regulations and announced that three public meetings will be held in March during which time the agency will receive public comment on the proposal. The meetings will take place between March 21st and 25th at the following locations: Monday, ...