Farmworkers And Laborers, Crop

Job description

Crops/Commodities: Citrus Fruits (grapefruits and oranges).
CITRUS HARVESTING ACTIVITIES: Workers will engage in the hand harvesting of citrus fruits. Following the guidance of supervisors, they will traverse the rows of the grove while carrying a picking sack over their shoulder and an 12-foot ladder from the field truck to the designated harvesting area. Supervisors will explain and demonstrate the picking procedures at the start of the season and as needed throughout, ensuring that quality standards are met. The picking sack is a canvas bag with a shoulder strap for comfort, featuring an opening for inserting and removing fruit. A fully loaded sack can weigh up to 80 pounds, varying with the size and condition of the fruit. Workers will position the ladder securely against the tree, reaching the fruit while avoiding damage to the branches or interference with other workers. They will carefully remove the fruit and place it into the sack. Once full, they will transport the sack to the designated fruit bin and unload it. The workers' supervisors will conduct quality control checks to identify any bruised or damaged fruit. Workers with a high number of culls may receive verbal or written warnings, and repeated issues could lead to disciplinary measures, including termination. Worker will be required to scan and tag citrus bins throughout the day. Scanning and tagging is the process of tracking produce and harvest productivity during citrus harvest. Worker will be required to accurately enter company and harvester information, price, variety and block codes in handheld scanner.

Workers may also operate agricultural machinery to manage the loading and unloading of harvesting containers from trailers. Certain tasks may require the operation of farm vehicles or machinery such as rough terrain forklifts, skid steers, or similar equipment, to assist with the movement of field boxes to and from harvest rows and onto transport trucks. Additionally, some workers may be designated to operate company vehicles to transport essential harvest-related materials such as ladders, potable water, portable restrooms, diesel fuel, spare parts, or tools to and from work areas as needed.

Harvesting work is compensated primarily on a piece rate basis, encouraging productivity and efficiency. If a harvesting block lacks sufficient production volume due to factors beyond the workers' control, such as low fruit availability, the employer will ensure that workers are compensated at no less than the prevailing hourly wage for all time worked. Workers are expected to make a good faith effort to perform under the piece rate system when available. A consistent unwillingness or inability to meet reasonable productivity expectations under this system may result in verbal or written counseling and potential reassignment.

GENERAL CITRUS PLANTING & GROVE MAINTENANCE: Following supervisory instructions, workers will drive and manage farm equipment for mowing, spraying, and maintaining citrus crops. If workers have physical restrictions or if harvesting is unavailable, they will perform various cleanup and maintenance tasks on the grove property, including the structures used in operations and housing for harvesting staff. Responsibilities include planting, cultivating, and harvesting citrus groves, as well as cleaning up by removing sprouts, debris, weeds, and vines. They will also repair irrigation systems, maintain operational structures and equipment, and fix fences. Workers will receive the highest applicable wage, whether it be the adverse effect wage rate, the prevailing wage rate, or the minimum wage for time spent on or the minimum wage for time spent on cleanup tasks.

Special Requirements

To perform these tasks, workers must possess the physical strength and endurance to efficiently repeat the harvesting process and transport multiple sacks to the field bin.