Watermelon Harvesting

Job description

The worker will perform job duties as assigned by the supervisor. They will vary from time to time depending on crop ripening and weather. The watermelon harvesting and packing is temporary and will last from July to August.

Watermelon Hand Harvesting-In order to perform this kind of work, the worker must be able to walk down the field row and use a knife to hand cut ripe watermelons off the vine for harvesting. The watermelons are then loaded in a bus by forming part of an assembly line, in which the first worker bends down picks up the watermelon and it is passed on to consecutive workers by passing, catching, lifting, until it reaches the worker on the bus, who then sets it down and stacks them until the bus is considered full.

Watermelon Packing- The watermelon is transported by bus to the packing shed. Upon its arrival, it is unloaded by a group of workers and placed on a conveyer belt. The group of workers on the conveyer belt are responsible for sorting, labeling, and packing the watermelon in cardboard containers. While the workers are waiting on the next load of watermelons to arrive, they will be responsible for assembling card board containers.

Farm Equipment and Vehicle Operation-The workers may need to use various farm equipment and vehicles to transport him/herself or other workers to and throughout the work-site to perform the watermelon harvesting work. The workers must use safety and precaution when using the farm equipment and vehicles. All passengers must be seated and practice safety and precaution when using the farm equipment and and vehicles. The passengers must wait to exit the farm equipment and vehicles when the driver comes to a complete stop and gets off the vehicle. The
workers will keep the farm equipment and vehicles free of trash. The workers may also need to transport workers to and from work each day from the employer provided housing and serve as a team leader.

All of the watermelon harvesting, packing, and transporting labor is performed on a farm specifically in the work-sites listed on the application and itinerary and are all a part of the watermelon farming operation. The field drivers, which are employees of Marin J. Corp. are the ones that drive the buses being used in the field to load the watermelons and take them to the shed for packing. The packing shed workers are employees of Marin J. Corp. The packing shed is located on the farms listed on the harvesting itinerary. The packing of watermelons is considered agriculture labor because the work is being done on a farm and the watermelons are a horticultural commodity that must be packed by grade before leaving the farm for selling purposes at the market. The watermelons are in unmanufactured state at the time of packing and all the watermelons are produced on the farm. Marin J. Corp. is the operator of the farms for the time period requested.

If the worker is paid on a piece rate basis and at the end of the pay period the piece rate does not result in average hourly piece rate earnings during the pay period at least equal to the amount the worker would have earned had the worker been paid at the appropriate hourly rate of pay, the employer agrees to supplement the worker's pay at that time so that the worker's earnings are at least as much as the worker would have earned during the pay period if the worker had instead been paid at the appropriate hourly wage rate for each hour worked. 20 CFR 655.120, 655.122(l).

Special Requirements

The worker must be responsible and consistent on the job. The worker must have 3 month verifiable experience in
fruit or vegetable commercial hand harvesting and packing.