NMPF’s Executive Vice President Paul Bleiberg joins Dairy Radio Now this week to assess the impact of a new report from the House Agriculture Committee on the need that dairy farms and other ag employers have for farm workers, and what the prospects are for the push to expand the H2A visa program to dairy employers.
Tag: farm labor
FARM provides insights on labor laws
Keeping up with changes to state and federal labor laws can be daunting. However, given the tight labor markets, dairy farms must redouble efforts to attract and retain employees.
The National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Workforce Development program offers free resources. These include state and federal legal fact sheets as well as human resource (HR) and safety templates to help dairy owners and managers increase worker engagement, reduce employee turnover, and manage safety hazards associated with dairy farming.
As part of its programming, FARM Workforce Development hosts quarterly educational webinars for program evaluators — the individuals who conduct on-farm assessments and support farmers with continuous improvement. For this year’s first webinar, Dan Deacon of Conn Maciel Carey LLP highlighted recent and potential upcoming changes to federal labor laws, including independent contractor definitions, overtime and wage rules, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations. While FARM’s on-farm assessment tool does not evaluate legal compliance, understanding the legal and regulatory context is essential for advancing adoption of HR and safety best practices.
The Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor issued a proposed update to the Employee vs. Independent Contractor classification in October — restoring the “totality of the circumstances” analysis to determine whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act. A final rule would limit when a worker may be properly classified as an independent contractor and may be subject to legal action. The Wage and Hour Division is currently reviewing feedback from their public comment period and will provide next steps in the coming months.
The Wage and Hour Division has also held industry stakeholder listening sessions regarding overtime regulations and indicated it will issue a proposed rule to update the salary exemption threshold this year. It is not clear at this time whether the division is also exploring further updates to overtime regulations.
In January 2023, OSHA issued enforcement memos to field offices and state plans that significantly expand the potential for higher fines issued to employers for safety and health violations. One memo expands the circumstances for instance-by-instance citations, while the other reiterates OSHA’s discretion to limit the grouping of citations. OSHA also initiated a rulemaking in January 2023 for the Worker Walkaround Representative Designation Process, which would allow union representatives to participate in OSHA inspections at non-union workplaces, at the request of employees, and be more involved in the OSHA process. Prior to those actions, in March 2022, OSHA also issued a proposed rule to expand the e-recordkeeping requirements planned to be implemented this year, which would require certain high hazard employers to submit OSHA 300, 301, and 300A data to OSHA on an annual basis.
FARM Workforce Development supports dairy farmers in identifying and implementing HR and safety best practices to enhance safe and thriving work environments. Dairy cooperatives and processors representing 60% of the U.S. milk supply participate in the initiative. More than 400 assessments have been completed across 23 states. Visit FARM’s website for FARM Workforce Development resources, including federal and state legal fact sheets.
NMPF’s Mulhern Speaks at Annual Meeting
NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern speaks at the organization’s annual meeting in Las Vegas, NV on Nov. 16.
NMPF’s Bjerga on Ag Labor Prospects in Congress
NMPF Senior Vice President of Communications, Alan Bjerga, discusses dairy’s unique labor needs on RFD-TV. NMPF remains hopeful that ag labor reform is possible in the current Congress, but it’s important for dairy’s perspective to be heard, as it was last week in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
NMPF’s Larson on the Need for H-2A Reform
NMPF Senior Director for Government Relations Claudia Larson discusses H-2A reform efforts in Congress and the need for broader agricultural labor reform legislation on the “Adams on Agriculture” podcast.
NMPF’s Bjerga on COVID Community Corps
NMPF’s Senior Vice President for Communications, Alan Bjerga, discusses dairy’s leadership in getting farmers and farmworkers vaccinated against COVID-19, as well as NMPF’s membership in the federally led COVID Community Corps, in audio from an interview with RFD-TV.
NMPF’s Bjerga on Ag Labor and Dairy Activism
NMPF Senior Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga discusses why the Farm Workforce Modernization Act is important to dairy, and how the dairy community is mobilizing in support of the legislation, on RFD-TV.
NMPF’s Bjerga on Ag Labor Bill and Vaccine Information
The Farm Workforce Modernization Act is an important step toward easing agriculture’s labor crisis, NMPF Senior Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga says in an interview with WEKZ Radio, Monroe, Wisconsin.
NMPF’s Sweeney-Murphy Explains Vaccination Resources
NMPF’s Theresa Sweeney-Murphy says confusion can vary by state or even among counties for when for COVID vaccines will be available for essential food and ag workers. “There are 50 states, and they each have different plans for distributing vaccines,” she said in an interview with the Brownfield Ag News She says a new toolbox aims to answer COVID questions and help dairy farmers navigate the continually changing eligibility requirements.
FARM Program’s Yeiser Stepp on Rethinking Dairy Engagement
Emily Yeiser Stepp, NMPF’s vice president for the National Dairy FARM Program, discusses how 2020 changed the way dairy-sector engagement has pivoted into the virtual world. She speaks on RFD-TV.
https://www.rfdtv.com/story/43427310/rethinking-engagement-strategies-in-the-dairy-industry
Biden Immigration Plan the Starting Point for Negotiations
The Biden Administration this week put forward an immigration reform package that would give a path to citizenship for immigrants already in the United States. That plan would give priority to ag workers, but would not expand the H2A visa plan for those ag workers. Paul Bleiberg of the National Milk Producers Federation joins Pro Farmer’s Jim Wiesemeyer and John Herath of Farm Journal to sort through the details of the immigration proposal on this week’s DC Signal to Noise Podcast. The three see the Biden immigration package as an opening offer in what will be a series of negotiations over issues such as the ag exemption for overtime and an expanded H2A program.
Other issues covered in this episode:
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- USDA Ag Outlook projects record corn and soybean acres
- Climate at the center of USDA Ag Outlook
- When will CFAP money be released?
- Update on COVID aid package
NMPF Virtual Town Hall: FARM Program Update
The National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program team offers an issues update for the 2020 NMPF Virtual Town Hall.
