Potato Farm Worker

Job description

Crops/Commodities:
potatoes, sweet potatoes.
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 planting sweet potatoes and cultivating and sorting/packing potatoes. Tasks include planting sweet potato plants by hand, weeding potato fields during harvest either by hand or with a hoe. Workers will sort potatoes, standing beside a moving conveyor belt and removing the damaged potatoes and foreign materials from the good potatoes by hand. Workers will keep the line in clean working condition by shoveling dirt and other debris from under/around conveyor belts/apparatus. Workers will be required to sanitize bins.

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.

Persons seeking employment in this position must be available for the entire period requested by the employer. 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 worker‘s employment will be terminated.

Employer may request, but not require, workers to work more than the stated daily hours and/or on a worker’s 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.

TERMINATION. All workers will be subject to a three-day trial period, during which the employer will evaluate workers' performance of required tasks. Employer reserves the right to terminate a worker at the conclusion of the trial period if the worker’s performance fails to satisfy the employer’s reasonable expectations, or is otherwise unacceptable. Employer may terminate a worker for lawful job-related reasons, including but not limited to situations in which the worker: (1) Is repeatedly absent or tardy; (2) malingers or otherwise refuses, without cause, to perform the work as directed; (3) commits act(s) of misconduct or repeatedly violates the Work Rules; and/or (4) fails, after completing the three day trial period, to perform work in a competent and skillful manner, consistent with the employer's reasonable expectations. Non-U.S. workers may be displaced as a result of one or more U.S. workers becoming available for the job during the employer’s recruitment period. Job abandonment will be deemed to occur after five consecutive workdays of unexcused absences. Workers may not report for work under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Possession or use of illegal drugs or alcohol on company premises is prohibited and will be cause for immediate termination.

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.