Summary of Federal Laws and Regulations Affecting Agricultural Employers, 2000

by Jack L. Runyan

About 34 percent of U.S. farms in 1997 used hired labor, and 12 percent used contract labor. Hired labor costs averaged 12 percent of total farm production expenses in 1997, but amounted to as much as 44 percent of production expenses for horticultural specialty crop producers, 40 percent for fruit and tree nut producers, and 32 percent for vegetable and melon producers. Hired farmworkers have accounted for about 31 percent of the farm workforce in the 1990's. Hired labor's importance of to U.S. farm production requires agricultural employers to understand Federal laws and regulations governing employment, taxes, wages, and working conditions. This single-source publication summarizes these laws and regulations. This updated version of a 1992 report contains expanded sections on agricultural employers' Federal safety requirements, migrant and seasonal farmworker provisions, and tax requirements for agricultural employers, as well as new sections on employer responsibilities under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 and the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.

Keywords: agricultural labor, farm labor, farm labor policy, employer-employee relations

In this publication...

• Entire Report
• Frontmatter
• Introduction
• Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
• Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970
• Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act of 1947
• Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act of 1983
• Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
• Workers' Compensation
• Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
• Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996
• Requirements for Agricultural Employers Under the Federal Laws That Assure Equal Employment Opportunities
• Requirements for Agricultural Employers Under the Major Federal Employment Tax Laws
• References
• Additional Resources
• Appendix A: Summary of Minimum Age Requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
• Appendix B: Factors Weighed in Determining Whether a Worker Is an Employee or an Independent Contractor for Federal Tax Purposes
• Appendix C: Definition of Agricultural Labor in the Internal Revenue Code of 1954