Farmworkers And Laborers, Crop

Job description

Harvesting citrus fruit by hand under supervisors instructions, the worker will place a picking sack over his shoulder and carry an 18 to 20 ladder from the field truck to the particular area of the grove to be harvested. The picking sack is a canvas bag equipped with a shoulder strap for support, an opening for the insertion of fruit, and an opening to remove fruit. A full loaded sack weighs between approximately 80 and 100 pounds, depending upon the size, condition and variety of fruit. Worker positions ladder against the tree and within reach of the fruit in a leaning position, taking care not to break limbs, damage the tree, knock of fruit or interfere with other workers, in a secure position to prevent slipping or falling and possible injury to themselves or other workers. Worker will remove fruit from the tree and place into pick sack. When pick sack is full take full sack to fruit tub.
Harvesting Blueberry by hand, the worker will walk down the blueberry field rows where the blueberry will be harvested. The worker will place a 1 gallon picking bucket with a strap over his shoulder from the field truck to the particular area of the field where the fruit will be harvested. The 1 gallon picking bucket is a canvas, equipped with a shoulder strap for support. Worker positions himself in front of the blueberry tree and will remove the fruit from the tree and place into the 1 gallon picking bucket taking care not to break any limbs, damage the tree, or knock off the fruit. When the 1 gallon picking bucket is full he will take it to the truck at the end of the row where he will unload his fruit into a small tub or container.
General Field Maintenance: The following task may be required: apply mulch by row mulcher or by hand; apply ground cover to beds using machine or by hand; remove debris from bed preparation process to clean growing area; finish row ends with shovels provided by employer; unload plants by hand from trucks and move plants to planting location by hand; assist in pest controls; install culverts for field drainage; remove and reinstall sprinklers during bed preparation, re-plant missing or unhealthy plants as directed; remove or pull up plants in preparation for next crop; remove blossoms (de-blossom) to improve fruit quality; remove debris, boxes, and discarded fruit from fields to keep clean growing areas; general ranch maintenance; basic irrigation maintenance; make sandbags, clean and maintenance equipment and tools, assist in applications by hand or tractor of fertilizers and or/pesticides; frost control of sprinklers, frost blanket coverings, or hoop coverings. May be necessary to assist in the use of farm equipment such as tractors, trucks and harvest machinery, etc.
The worker in order to perform this kind of work must be able to work outside for at least 6 hours a day in all kinds of weather and be in possession of the requisite physical strength and endurance to repeat the picking process rapidly, the employer will provide the tools necessary to perform the described job duties without charge to the worker. The employer will charge the worker for reasonable costs related to the workers refusal or negligent failure to return the tools or due to such workers willful damage or destruction of the tools.
Workers that qualify may be required to operate Agriculture Machinery or Equipment.

Employees may volunteer to work additional hours when work is available. Workers should expect occasional periods of little or no work because of weather, crop or other conditions beyond the employers control. These periods can occur any time throughout the season, if workers request a leave of absence during these periods of no work, the hours will be deducted from the hours offered under the ETA 790A.

Special Requirements

This type of work, involves working conditions that require tremendous stamina, a high level of physical activity in cold or extremely hot conditions in direct sunlight and in adverse weather such as rain. The work requires a high level of physical conditioning. Due to the type of work involved, there is a Probationary Period of five (5) days beginning with the first day of employment, to show possession of the requisite physical strength and endurance to perform this type of work.