Farm Worker

Job description

Crops/Commodities:
potatoes, sweet potatoes, spinach, collard greens.
This job requires a minimum of three months of prior experience working on a vegetable crop farm handling both manual and machine tasks associated with commodity production and harvest activities. Applicants must be able to furnish verbal or written statement establishing relevant prior work experience.

Workers will engage in cultivating and sorting/packing potatoes. Workers may handle/shovel seed and assist with cleaning the seed storage area. Workers will also be required to sanitize bins. Workers will engage in planting/sorting/packing sweet potatoes, handling/leveling spinach and collard greens produce, weeding/rouging undesirable plants from produce fields, either by hand or with a hoe, and cutting/cleaning brush from unwanted farm areas. Workers will sort potatoes/sweet potatoes, standing beside a moving conveyor belt on stationary ground or on the harvester, and remove the damaged potatoes/sweet potatoes and foreign materials from the good potatoes/sweet potatoes by hand. Workers will move spinach and collard greens from loosely dumped areas and compact them into surrounding areas by raking the produce and compacting it repeatedly. Workers will walk in tram rows, weeding produce fields by hand or with a hoe, carrying unwanted plants out of the produce area in a bucket. Workers will remove unwanted brush areas by hand or machete. Workers will keep the harvest line/loading equipment in clean working condition by shoveling dirt and other debris from under/around conveyor belts/apparatus, as well as washing equipment with a power washer/brush.

Work is to be done for long periods of time. Workers will assist in loading trucks with product weighing up to and including 75 pounds and lifting to a height of 5 feet for long periods of time. Workers should be able to work on their feet in bent positions for long periods of time. Work requires repetitive movements and extensive walking. Allergies to ragweed, goldenrod, insect spray, related chemicals, etc. may affect workers ability to perform the job. Workers are exposed to wet weather early in the morning through the heat of the day, working in fields. Temperatures may range from 10 to 100 F. Workers may be required to work during occasional showers not severe enough to stop field operations. Workers should be physically able to do the work required with or without reasonable accommodations. Saturday work required. Employer-paid post-hire drug testing is required upon reasonable suspicion of use and after a worker has an accident at work. Must be willing to work 1st, 2nd or 3rd shift hours.

Persons seeking employment in this position must be available for the entire period requested by the employer. Applicants must be able to furnish verbal or written statement establishing relevant prior work experience. Successful applicants will be subject to a trial period of up to 3 days during which their performance of required tasks will be evaluated. If the performance during the trial period is not acceptable to the employer the workers employment will be terminated.

Employer may request, but not require, workers to work more than the stated daily hours and/or on a workers Sabbath or federal holidays. Workers will have an unpaid lunch break. Worker must report to work at designated time and place each day. Daily or weekly work schedule may vary due to weather, sunlight, temperature, crop conditions, and other factors. Employer will notify workers of any change to start time.

The employer will offer 3 shifts per 24 hours with an unpaid lunch break Monday through Saturday:

(Shift 1) 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
(Shift 2) 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
(Shift 3) 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.

Each worker will be assigned to a shift.
TERMINATION. All workers will be subject to a three-day trial period, during which the employer will evaluate workers' performance of required tasks.

Special Requirements

This job requires a minimum of three months of prior experience working on a vegetable crop farm handling both manual and machine tasks associated with commodity production and harvest activities. Applicants must be able to furnish verbal or written statement establishing relevant prior work experience. Saturday work required. Must be able to lift/carry 75 lbs. Employer-paid post-hire drug testing is required upon reasonable suspicion of use and after a worker has an accident at work. Must be willing to work 1st, 2nd or 3rd shift hours.