Labor services for farmworkers

All Idaho Department of Labor offices statewide offer employment services to migrant and seasonal farmworkers, including:

• An online system to register for work, search through available jobs and file for unemployment insurance
• Job referrals
• Job search workshops
• Career guidance
• Job training information
• Resource center with computers, résumé templates, Internet access, career planning software, Idaho's Career Information System, newspapers, self-help books, videos, mail drop, fax, phones and copiers
• Information on community services
• How to file a complaint
• Labor market information

 

Farm labor contractor registry

Under state law, all persons performing farm labor contractor activities on behalf of migrant and seasonal farmworkers in Idaho must:

• Be licensed by the state and pay an annual licensing fee.
• Post a surety bond to cover unpaid wages.
• Carry auto insurance for all vehicles used in the farm labor contracting business.
• Carry workers' compensation coverage for all employees.
• Provide all employees at the time of hiring full disclosure about the conditions of employment.

List of farm labor contractors licensed in Idaho.

Minimum wage coverage

The law guarantees farmworkers the state minimum wage of $7.25 an hour on all farms except for the following employees:

• The employer's immediate family members
• Seasonal hand harvest workers paid on a piece rate basis where the employee commutes daily from a permanent residence and works less than 13 weeks a year
• Children 16 years or younger employed in hand harvest labor on the same farm as their parents
• Employees engaged in range production of livestock (cattle and sheep)

The law does not require farmworkers to be paid overtime.

The law does not require farmworkers to be paid only on an hourly basis. They can work and be paid on a piece rate basis. However, when working on a piece rate basis, employers must keep records to document that the amount earned by piece rate is not less than the state and federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.