Farmworkers And Laborers, Crop, Nursery, And Greenhouse

Job description

Tobacco plantation: Workers will carry full tobacco plant trays in order to set tobacco by hand and by machine. When done by hand the worker will walk down the field make a 3 inch hole in the ground, place the plant in the hole, cover the hole firmly and space each hole about 12 inches apart repeatedly throughout the daily shift. When setting tobacco by machine the worker must drop one plant in each cone repeatedly every two seconds without missing a cone. Any cone missed will be then set out by hand.
Tobacco Harvesting: Workers will start in a row with the first tobacco plant cutting off the top flower by hand properly without damaging leafs below. The worker must then use both hands in order to remove all the suckers that are in between the tobacco leaf and the stem of the tobacco plant. The worker will walk down his designated row working on every tobacco plant taking no more than 4 to 5 seconds. When this is finished the workers will again walk down the tobacco field on his designated row pulling off the bottom 3 to 5 ripe leafs off of every stock. If the leaf is not ripe you must leave it alone. The worker must stay down moving forward placing each leaf on his side until the worker has no more room and must walk over to unload his bundle of tobacco leafs into the tobacco trailer. Any leafs dropped by the worker must be picked up. The tobacco tractor and trailer will always be in the middle of the 12 person group moving forward. The worker must due this process 3 to 4 different period of times as leafs ripen on every stock.

General Maintenance: Workers on physical work restrictions or when harvesting work is not available may be required to perform miscellaneous clean-up work on work site property, on structures utilized in the work site operation, and on housing for harvesting workers. Such clean-up activities include the sprouting, pruning, and painting of trees; debris, weed, and vine removal; irrigation repair; housing and structure cleaning and repair.
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 worker’s refusal or negligent failure to return the tools or due to such worker’s willful damage or destruction of the tools

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 employer’s control. These periods can occur any time throughout the season. If workers request a leave of absence during the contract period, the hours will be deducted from the hours offered under the ETA 790A for the purposes of the three-quarter guarantee.

A copy of the work contract or a copy of the ETA 790 in lieu of a work contract, and any modifications, will be provided to the H-2A worker no later than the time at which the worker applies for the Visa, or to a worker in corresponding employment, no later than on the day work commences. For an H-2A worker going from an H-2A employer to a subsequent H-2A employer, a copy of the contract will be provided no later than the time an offer of employment is made by the subsequent H-2A employer.

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.