Thad
08-11-2011, 12:17 PM
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Labor-for-food requests denied
Updated: Thursday, August 11, 2011 9:35 AM
CSA says no to volunteer labor; state says workers would be employees
By STEVE BROWN ([email protected])
Capital Press
As the economy has slowed and household budgets have tightened, community supported agriculture operations hear more requests from customers wanting to work as credit toward their farm share.
"We get 15 or 20 requests every year," Serena Campbell, co-owner of Hedlin Farms in La Conner, Wash., said. But the farm denies every one of those requests.
Hedlin Farms has been offering CSA shares for six or seven years.
"Washington state law is clear about volunteer labor not being legal," she said. "We don't take volunteers. It seems pretty black and white to us. ... The exposure is just too great."
Elaine Fischer, spokeswoman at the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, said the state sets a clear standard for farms and other businesses that have people on the worksites. If those people work for the benefit of the business, they are employees and thus are subject to state laws on workers' compensation coverage.
Fischer said if CSA members pick their own products, it's more like a U-pick arrangement, "but if they're working for credit toward cost of a CSA box, that's the definition of employment relationship. There is no exemption in Washington for work in exchange for goods and services."
She described how the state views a variety of relationships.
Workers -- whether they are full- or part-time, interns or apprentices -- are employees. "There is an ongoing work relationship, there is an expectation of quality or quantity, and their work is for the benefit of the farm," she said.
But many other people come onto farm property:
* U-pick customers, she said, "pick only what they want, and they're not supervised or directed. They're not considered to be workers of the farm."
* Likewise with gleaners, who come in to pick leftovers for themselves or for a food bank. "There are no expectations and no commitments," Fischer said.
* Customers who come onto the farm for tours, corn mazes, winegrape crushing or for a bed-and-breakfast stay "with hands-on experience of farm life" are visitors who pay for the experience. There is no expectation between the two parties.
* However, "crop mobs," where friends and neighbors descend on a farm for a day of work, appear to be a gray area, she said.
"There's a lot of different things going on," Fischer said. "That doesn't fit the model. We'd have to look at the circumstances."
She invited anyone with questions to talk with agency personnel.
"We do have people here who can walk through whatever situations," she said.
The legislature last year established a limited pilot program for farm interns in Skagit and San Juan counties. It allowed small farms such as Jim Sesby's Heritage Farm near Friday Harbor, Wash., to take on up to three interns.
All were exempt from minimum-wage laws but protected by workers' compensation insurance. They were also required to have formal curriculum.
Online
www.lni.wa.gov (https://www.lni.wa.gov)
https://www.capitalpress.com/images/CPWeblogo_redesign.jpg (https://www.capitalpress.com/)
Labor-for-food requests denied
Updated: Thursday, August 11, 2011 9:35 AM
CSA says no to volunteer labor; state says workers would be employees
By STEVE BROWN ([email protected])
Capital Press
As the economy has slowed and household budgets have tightened, community supported agriculture operations hear more requests from customers wanting to work as credit toward their farm share.
"We get 15 or 20 requests every year," Serena Campbell, co-owner of Hedlin Farms in La Conner, Wash., said. But the farm denies every one of those requests.
Hedlin Farms has been offering CSA shares for six or seven years.
"Washington state law is clear about volunteer labor not being legal," she said. "We don't take volunteers. It seems pretty black and white to us. ... The exposure is just too great."
Elaine Fischer, spokeswoman at the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, said the state sets a clear standard for farms and other businesses that have people on the worksites. If those people work for the benefit of the business, they are employees and thus are subject to state laws on workers' compensation coverage.
Fischer said if CSA members pick their own products, it's more like a U-pick arrangement, "but if they're working for credit toward cost of a CSA box, that's the definition of employment relationship. There is no exemption in Washington for work in exchange for goods and services."
She described how the state views a variety of relationships.
Workers -- whether they are full- or part-time, interns or apprentices -- are employees. "There is an ongoing work relationship, there is an expectation of quality or quantity, and their work is for the benefit of the farm," she said.
But many other people come onto farm property:
* U-pick customers, she said, "pick only what they want, and they're not supervised or directed. They're not considered to be workers of the farm."
* Likewise with gleaners, who come in to pick leftovers for themselves or for a food bank. "There are no expectations and no commitments," Fischer said.
* Customers who come onto the farm for tours, corn mazes, winegrape crushing or for a bed-and-breakfast stay "with hands-on experience of farm life" are visitors who pay for the experience. There is no expectation between the two parties.
* However, "crop mobs," where friends and neighbors descend on a farm for a day of work, appear to be a gray area, she said.
"There's a lot of different things going on," Fischer said. "That doesn't fit the model. We'd have to look at the circumstances."
She invited anyone with questions to talk with agency personnel.
"We do have people here who can walk through whatever situations," she said.
The legislature last year established a limited pilot program for farm interns in Skagit and San Juan counties. It allowed small farms such as Jim Sesby's Heritage Farm near Friday Harbor, Wash., to take on up to three interns.
All were exempt from minimum-wage laws but protected by workers' compensation insurance. They were also required to have formal curriculum.
Online
www.lni.wa.gov (https://www.lni.wa.gov)