Citrus Farm Laborer

Job description

Citrus Maintenance, Lemon, Mandarin, Oranges, Minneolas, and Grapefruit harvesters/row boss/forklift driver/van driver to perform the following duties:

Workers will prune, irrigate, perform grove maintenance, install bee netting and perform weed control. Workers may harvest citrus (lemons, oranges, mandarin oranges, and grapefruit) by hand and by mechanical aid. Weeding is performed by long handled hoes and by hand in accordance with the California law. (i.e. less than 20% of the time and only as needed).

Agricultural equipment operator (forklift and/or tractor) for netting and loading and unloading citrus bins from trailer and place bins throughout orchard for harvest. Employee must conduct daily maintenance check prior to operating tractor/machine. Required to have basic knowledge of driving a forklift, must pass forklift safety training and demonstrate ability to operate tractor/machine/forklift in a safe manner.

The employer will provide training, the forklift driver certification, and all costs will be responsibility of the employer. Training will be provided by the area supervisor who holds a forklift trainer certificate. The supervisor will conduct training at the worksites on the first day of work. Once the training is completed, the employer will issue the certificate to the employees.

Row Boss: Worker is responsible for citrus row quality and row cleanliness. The Row Boss is the supervisor’s assistant. The Row Boss ensures that the workers are doing their exercises, washing their hands and carrying out their work. The Row Boss assists with the scanning of the workers for start and end times and lunch and break time and also scans the individual bins of each worker. The Row Boss fills out documentation for Food Safety, Production and Quality Control. Over the course of the day the Row Boss does quality control reviews and constantly checks that the workers are using the sack and ladder properly. The Row Boss checks the bins with product, so people do not damage the product during the harvesting. In general, the Row Boss assists the supervisor with all of its responsibilities. This is not a supervisory position and the Row Boss has no personnel authority such as hiring, firing, or personnel review.

CalVans Driver: It may be possible for workers to become drivers during the contract period. CalVan drivers may be H-2A or corresponding domestic workers. The employer assures that employees who drive the CalVans are compensated for their time driving. CalVan drivers perform MSPA and related paperwork (i.e., logging) as required by law which they are compensated for. The CalVan driving job duty is not a different job and the drivers perform harvesting job duties when not driving. Drivers pick up workers from the housing sites/pick up points and drop them off at the worksite. At the end of the workday, the CalVan driver takes the workers back to the housing sites/pick up points. Drivers are also responsible, during the workday, for filling the vehicle with gasoline and keeping it clean. The employer assures that drivers are paid the AEWR for actual driving time, processing CalVans paperwork, trips to the gas station, and cleaning the vehicle. Workers selected to be a driver (if any) must possess the appropriate drivers license, meet all driver requirements, and be approved by CalVans prior to being assigned to this position. Employer will cover all costs associated with obtaining the drivers license and FLCE. Drivers will drive a minority of the work hours in this contract. (i.e. approximately 2 hours per day or 20% of their day). At the end of the contract, drivers will have driven less than 50% of the total work hours, and thus, less than 50% of the total work days. Consequently, driving is not a primary job duty in this job order

Special Requirements

Requirements: 1 month of citrus harvest experience. Cannot be color blind due to the need to distinguish colors of crops for proper ripeness and maturity, able to use shears, clippers and other agricultural tools, no smoking, illegal drugs, alcohol, or weapons of any sort in the housing or work fields. Ability to communicate in English or Spanish is required for training and safety purposes. Work is performed outdoors in open fields and can involve exposure to sun, wind, mud, dust, heat, cold and other elements of the normal field environment. Temperatures can range from 20 degrees F to over 100 degrees F during the period of employment. Workers should come prepared with appropriate clothing and footwear for the work and working conditions described.