www.dol.gov/compliance
|
November 5, 2008 DOL Home > Compliance Assistance > By Topic > Wages and Hours Worked > Wages in Agriculture |
The Department of Labor's (DOL) Wage and Hour Division administers three laws that determine the wages of workers engaged in agricultural employment. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires payment of no less than the federal minimum wage for each hour worked and time and one-half the employee's regular rate of pay for hours worked in excess of 40 in the workweek. The federal minimum wage for covered, nonexempt employees is $5.85 per hour effective July 24, 2007; $6.55 per hour effective July 24, 2008; and $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009. Certain small farms are exempt from the minimum wage and overtime requirements of the FLSA. Workers engaged in agricultural employment (as defined by the FLSA) are exempt from the overtime requirements. Most migrant and seasonal workers engaged in agriculture are protected by the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA). This law requires, among other things, that workers receive the rate that was disclosed upon recruitment or hire. This is sometimes called the "promised wage." The disclosed wage cannot be less than the higher of the applicable state minimum wage or the federal minimum wage established in the FLSA. The law also restricts the deductions that may be legally made from worker's wages. The H-2A provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) authorize the lawful entry into the United States of temporary, non-immigrant workers (H-2A workers) to perform agricultural labor or agricultural services of a temporary or seasonal nature. Foreign workers and U.S. workers performing the same work at the same location for the same employer as foreign workers must be paid the highest of (a) the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR), (b) the "prevailing rate" for a given crop/area or (c) the federal or state minimum wage. The law also contains requirements regarding employer-provided meals and transportation of workers and restricts the deductions that may be legally made from workers' wages. COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE MATERIALS
Every employer covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) must keep certain records for each employee. The FLSA requires no particular form for the records, but does require that the records include certain identifying information about the employee and data about the hours worked and the wages earned. For a listing of the basic records that an employer must maintain, see the FLSA recordkeeping fact sheet. Agricultural employers, farm labor contractors (FLCs), and agricultural associations have recordkeeping and disclosure requirements under the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA). See 29 CFR 500.80 for further information. Employers of foreign nonimmigrant temporary/seasonal agricultural workers under the H-2A Visa Program are required to keep accurate records with respect to each worker's earnings. See 20 CFR 655.102(b)(7) for further information on recordkeeping requirements under the H-2A visa program.
APPLICABLE LAWS AND REGULATIONS
*Pursuant to the U.S. Department of Labor's Confidentiality Protocol for Compliance Assistance Inquiries, information provided by a telephone caller will be kept confidential within the bounds of the law. Compliance assistance inquiries will not trigger an inspection, audit, investigation, etc. |
|
|||||||||
|