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Western Growers is a proud sponsor of the 2019 Yuma/Winterhaven H-2A Stakeholder Meeting
Mark your calendar to join Western Growers in Winterhaven on January 8, 2019, for the 2019 Yuma/Winterhaven H-2A Stakeholder Meeting. Experts from government and the industry will hold round table discussions on important issues such as H-2A Driver Transportation, housing issues, expanding the use of H-2A beyond field harvest work and more! Experts from Government ...
Wage Order 14 Update
A draft update to Wage Order 14 awaiting final approval provides much needed clarity on the irrigator exemption and other aspects of AB 1066. As we reported here and here, AB 1066 amended the California Labor Code regarding compensation for overtime for workers in an agricultural occupation. Pursuant to AB 1066 Department of Industrial Relations ...
H-2A Wage Rates to Rise on January 9, 2019
On December 26, 2018, the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the Department of Labor (Department) issued its Federal Register Notice to announce the 2019 Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWRs). This notice applies to the employment of temporary or seasonal nonimmigrant foreign workers (H–2A workers) to perform agricultural labor or services. AEWRs are the minimum ...
Wage Order 14 Update Now Approved and Published
The January 2019 update to Wage Order 14 has received final approval and is now published and in effect. The revised wage order includes the minimum wage in effect for employers with 26 or more employees ($12.00/hour) and employers with 25 or fewer employees ($11.00/hour), as well as future approved increases The wage order also ...
Lawsuit Filed To Halt H-2A Wage Increase
As we reported here, the National Council of Agricultural Employers (NCAE), which Western Growers serves on their Executive Committee, has sued the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to stop unsustainable increases in the minimum wage for H-2A visa foreign guestworkers, known at the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (ARWR). The 2019 AEWR rates are now in ...
California Labor Commissioner Provides Guidance on Agricultural Overtime Pay Schedule
The California Department of Industrial Relations released a statement regarding the agricultural overtime pay schedule that went into effect January 1. The law’s overtime pay requirements will be phased in according to the table below. Effective date for employers with 26 or more employees (“large companies”): Effective date for employers with 25 or ...
2018 EEO-1 Report Filing Deadline Extended
Due to the recent partial lapse in appropriations, the opening of the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)-1 survey has been postponed until early March 2019. The deadline to submit EEO-1 data will be extended to May 31, 2019. Details and instructions for the EEO-1 Report filers will be forthcoming from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The Equal ...
On-Call Check-In Now Requires Reporting-Time Pay in California
Employers who require nonexempt employees to check in to find out whether they must report to work that day must pay those employees “reporting time” under the applicable wage order. Under a sweeping Court of Appeal decision, when an employee calls in but is not put to work or is furnished less than half of ...
Free H-2A Workshop in Coachella Valley
Are you a current H-2A program participant or looking to hire temporary agricultural workers through the H-2A program? Mark your calendars for a free H-2A workshop Wednesday March 13, 2019, at the Coachella Water District Auditorium. Representatives from the United States Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, State of California Employment Development Division, State of…
Reminder – Cal/OSHA 300A Form due by March 2
As we reported here, employers are required to submit their Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 300A injury and illness data for the 2018 calendar year by March 2. The classes of business who must comply with the electronic reporting process include: Any business with at least 250 employees. Any business with 20 to 249 ...
Federal Court Revives EEOC Gender Pay Data Collection Rules
Companies with more than 100 employees will soon have to report pay data to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, following a recent court ruling reviving a delayed Obama-era reporting requirement. The pay disclosures were finalized by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the summer of 2016, but the Trump Administration’s Office of Management ...
Court Finds NCAE Lawsuit Challenging H-2A Wage Hike is Untimely
As we reported here and here, the National Council of Agricultural Employers (NCAE), which Western Growers serves on their Executive Committee, and Nevada-based grower Peri & Sons sued the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to stop unsustainable increases in the minimum wage for H-2A visa foreign guestworkers, known at the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR). On ...
H-2A Roundtable Sessions to be Held in May & June
It’s time to sign up for the 2019 H-2A Roundtable Sessions! This year’s Roundtable sessions will be held in multiple locations and the Santa Maria session will be presented in both English and Spanish. These sessions are offered at no cost to members of participating organizations including Western Growers but RSVP is required. Wage and ...
U.S. Supreme Court Sides with Employers in Class Arbitration Case
In a victory for employers, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela that courts cannot order an arbitration to be conducted on a class-wide basis unless there is an arbitration agreement that expressly authorizes class arbitration. In 2016, a hacker tricked an employee of Lamps Plus, Inc., into disclosing tax ...
Employers Must Provide Pay Data to EEOC by September 30
As discussed here and here, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has confirmed that EEO-1 filers should begin preparing to submit employee pay data (Component 1) for calendar year 2018 by September 30, 2019, in light of the court’s recent decision in National Women’s Law Center, et al., v. Office of Management and Budget, et ...
Protect Outdoor Workers from Heat Illnesses
As temperatures continue to rise throughout California, Cal/OSHA is reminding all employers to protect their outdoor workers from heat related illnesses. Heat advisories have been issued for Fresno, Kern, Kings and Tulare counties with weather forecasts of high heat over the next week. Additionally, Cal/OSHA investigators will conduct high heat inspections at outdoor work facilities ...
CalSavers Opens for Enrollment beginning July 1, 2019
CalSavers is a new California law designed to encourage employees to save for retirement. CalSavers was originally called California Secure Choice and was approved by the State Legislature in 2016. In California, beginning July 1, 2019, the CalSavers Retirement Savings Program will open to all eligible employers. CalSavers provides employees with a retirement savings program ...
Trump Administration Proposes New Rules to Streamline H-2A
On July 15, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration and Wage and Hour Division posted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to solicit public comment on proposed changes to improve the H-2A temporary agricultural labor certification program. The NPRM includes several major proposals that would streamline and simplify the H-2A application process, ...
Controversial Independent Contractor Bill AB 5, Passes State Senate
The California Senate has passed AB 5, which codifies and expands on the “ABC” test for determining whether a worker should be classified as an employee or an independent contractor. The new test was adopted by the California Supreme Court’s Dynamex decision in 2018. In Dynamex, the California Supreme Court held that under this ABC test, workers ...
CA Gov. Newsom Signs Assembly Bill 5
As previously stated in Spotlight, the California legislature has passed Assembly Bill (AB) 5, which codifies and expands on the “ABC” test for determining whether a worker should be classified as an employee or an independent contractor. Yesterday, September 18th, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 5, requiring employers to reclassify certain workers who are ...