April 15, 2016
CapitalPress.com
9
New citrus labor association aids employers
By CECILIA PARSONS
For the Capital Press
Challenges with evolv-
ing agricultural labor laws
and compensation has led to
the formation of a new labor
association for the citrus in-
dustry.
The California Agricul-
tural Labor Association
was created to provide cit-
rus growers, packinghouses
and farm labor contractors
with up-to-date information
about state and federal farm
labor regulations.
Laura Brown, California
Citrus Mutual’s director of
government affairs, said the
association would be dedi-
cated to bringing the best la-
bor law information directly
to employers.
California’s citrus indus-
try is dependent on a nearly
year-round work force. Har-
vest crews can work nearly
10 months of the year and
are typically supplied by
the grower’s packinghouse.
Some growers employ their
own harvest labor.
Packinghouses are com-
monly direct employers of
the workers who pack the
fruit.
Brown said applica-
tion of rules can differ
from one operation to the
next and this new organi-
zation can answer ques-
tions and determine how
rules apply on a case-by-
case basis. A single source
of information on labor
rules can help compliance
throughout the industry, she
said.
Answering
questions
about worker health care,
sick pay and proposed legis-
lation on piece rate compen-
sation are among the goals
of the new organization.
Announcement of the new
organization was made at
the annual Citrus Showcase
hosted by the grower orga-
nization California Citrus
Mutual.
“Piece rate compensation
and joint liability are only
two labor obstacles that the
agriculture industry is strug-
gling to understand and im-
plement,” said Joel Nelsen,
California Citrus Mutu-
al president. “Regulatory
compliance is constantly
evolving and the challenge
of maintaining compliance
with both state and federal
regulations is difficult and
taxing. To meet this chal-
lenge, the citrus industry
formed CALA, which will
serve farm labor contractors,
growers and packinghouses
alike.”
Kevin Severns, manager
of a Sunkist packinghouse
in Orange Cove, said it is
a huge task to keep track of
all the labor rules that per-
tain to agriculture.
Check stub information,
break time, heat stress rules
and compliance with Af-
fordable Health Care Act
are all issues for growers,
packinghouses and farm la-
bor contractors.
Growers can be liable for
labor law violations even if
the farm labor contractor is
the direct employer. Severns
said keeping all parties
knowledgeable about com-
pliance is vital to the citrus
industry.
Over the next several
months, CALA will begin
signing up members and
hiring an executive director
to pull together staffing and
programming. The goal is to
be fully operational by this
fall.
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