A new report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) offers an in-depth analysis of the Ag’s labor research over the past twenty years. The Federal Labor Standards Enforcement in Agriculture report finds that the vast majority of investigations have uncovered labor law violations. A relatively small number of problematic employers were responsible for a large proportion of the total number of violations reported. The report’s authors also highlight problem areas and offer solutions to protect farm workers in the future.
“The wages and salaries department should use statistical analysis of investigations and employment data to inform investigators which employers are most likely to violate labor laws,” said Zachariah Rutledge, a postdoctoral fellow at Arizona State University and a co-author on the report. “If we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, more targeted enforcement measures could help protect the farm workers who harvest and package our food.”
A total of 70 percent of investigations conducted by the US Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) found violations of labor law on farms. Almost a third of those questioned had committed at least five individual violations. Farm workers (FLCs) were found to be the most common violations, accounting for 24 percent of all federal labor law violations in agriculture. Ag labor inquiries found a disproportionate number of violations regarding the share of agriculture in total employment in the US. The agriculture sector accounts for roughly one percent of total US employment, but accounts for three percent of all federal labor law violations in the past 15 years.
The authors make various suggestions to prevent future violations. One of the recommendations is to focus on a closer examination of the FLCs and establishments that use them. Other proposals include increasing the severity of sanctions as we see the value of civil fines for violations. The authors also recommend that the WHD divert further investigations into surgeries that may violate labor law.
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