PAR™ Labor FAQ

1. What is AAWCO?
1. An America’s Agricultural Workforce Cooperative is the first Cooperatively owned Labor Cooperative in the US.  It operates as a for profit Cooperative with a marketing company (AAWCOMC, LLC) as the entity that provides services to the AAWCO members.   AAWCO membership allows the Cooperatives and Trade Associations to receive patronage from the AAWCO operating activities, based on the percentage of their own memberships’ use of AAWCO services.

2. What does AAWCO Marketing Company, LLC do?
1. AAWCO Marketing Company works for the Grower.
   
   AAWCOMC provides consultation services for AAWCO Members’ farmers and growers to help them obtain the lowest cost labor acquisition strategy using PAR-AG™ Labor Solutions.  Incorporated into these efforts are labor acquisition simplification, liability management, housing standardization and acquisition, as well as worker productivity assessment.

3. Does AAWCO Provide the Labor?
1. AAWCOMC sources the Farm Labor Contractor.  AAWCOMC performs due diligence and checks the references of the FLC to make sure the past performance falls within the objectives established to provide Growers with the lowest cost labor.

4. What are the advantages of having workers provided by PAR-AG™ Labor Solutions?
1. First, the liability of possibly hiring un-documented workers (knowingly or unknowingly) is increasing.  Some proposals in Congress are suggesting the employer violating the proposed laws regarding hiring un-documented workers face fines of up to $25,000 and possible jail.
   
   

   As a result of the H2A Visa, and the security involved in the process which PAR-AG™ Labor Solutions FLC must utilize to obtain a criminal and medical background check on each employee, this liability is transferred to the FLC.   The result of the employer relationship being between the FLC and worker may help insulate the Grower from this responsibility as well as from other potential actions.

   Second, the productivity of PAR-AG™ Labor Solution workers is currently expected to be in the top 50% of the worker pool.  During the time the workers are at your farm, you should experience this productivity differentiator in terms of better output and lower facility management costs.

   Third, the hiring of the workers is not limited to H2A Visa workers, but can include H2B Visa (non-agricultural temporary workers) as well as domestic temporary workers.  All the variables, including costs normally associated with payroll, workman’s comp insurance, benefits, transportation and housing of workers can be calculated by using each labor pool, and optimized by the PAR-AG™ Labor Solution equation, giving your farm the lowest cost labor alternative available.

5. If my organization wants to join AAWCO, will my people have any additional work?
1. No.  AAWCO and AAWCOMC will provide all the interaction between your members and the FLC.  All you would be asked to provide is an introduction to AAWCOMC and our PAR-AG™ Labor Solutions to your members.
   
   For this, your organization will be provided a 10% co-marketing fee from the initial payment for AAWCOMC service to the Growers.

6. If the H2A worker is used, does the FLC withhold payment from their checks for transportation and housing?
1. NO.  Withholding payments from the worker for transportation/housing from H2A workers is illegal.  It is the FLC employer’s responsibility to pay for workers transportation and housing.

7. Will the Grower have to pay for transportation for H2A workers?
1. NO.  The AAWCOMC PAR-AG™ Labor Solutions FLC is responsible for paying for transportation from the worker’s country to your farm.  The price the Grower pays per hour includes this cost.
   
   What makes the cost lower for AAWCOMC Members’ Growers is that the fixed costs associated with the acquisition of the H2A Visa, as well as the transportation from the country to the US can be spread over as much as 36 months versus any individual farmer, who can only keep H2A workers on their farm for up to 10 months.  This allows AAWCO Members to have a MUCH lower allocation cost per month.

8. Does the Grower have to provide Housing and Meals or Transportation to the field from the Housing?
1. NO.  This service can be incorporated into the price per hour that the FLC will charge for the labor.

9. What if the Grower normally pays their workers by the piece?
1. This is fine, as long as the hourly wage meets Department of Labor established hourly wage minimums, which for H2A workers is usually the Adverse Effect Wage Rate, which are different for each state and set year to year.

10. What about payroll taxes and benefits for the workers.
1. H2A workers have workman’s comp insurance provided by the FLC.  In addition, they have benefits through the PAR-AG™ Labor Solution FLC that will take care of their non-workman’s comp needs.

11. What is the lowest or highest number of workers a Grower can order?
1. 1 to 20,000 (provided there is sufficient time to place the larger number through the US Conciliate in the country of origin).

12. Can the Grower cancel the contract?
1. The contract with the PAR-AG™ FLC involves commitments for deposits which are usually the first 2 weeks of wages, held until the last week’s payroll per employee.  If there is an unusual catastrophic event that would cause the crop to be lost, the DOL may allow a consideration of a cancellation that entails some costs being born by the Grower.  Otherwise, the H2A program is established to supplement a Grower’s local labor pool. 
   

   The PAR-AG™ FLC would be responsible, once the Grower signs the contract, to advertise for local workers and replace the number of H2A workers initially ordered with any documented local workers which would want to work at the Grower’s site.  It becomes the PAR-AG™ Labor Solution’s FLC which, at the time the H2A workers are on the plane to leave their country, pull the advertisements for the work to be performed.  Then, only local workers that would come to the Grower’s site would be eligible to receive the jobs that may displace H2A workers. 

   If any local worker initiates the work at a Grower’s site but then quits, the FLC will be responsible for maintaining the number of qualified workers to accomplish the Growers’ tasks.

13. When does the Grower pay the FLC?
1. With PAR-AG™ Labor Solutions, the FLC will pay each worker on Friday for the previous 7 days work.  Then the invoice, along with any supplemental paperwork is given to the Grower to review on the following Monday.  The review (and identification of any disputes) is done by Tuesday, and then the undisputed payment is to be made by the Grower to the FLC by Thursday of that week.

14. How many hours must the Grower guarantee that the worker will work during the contracted period?
1. The H2A Visa worker, under the DOL regulations, must receive pay for at least 75% of the contract which allows them to enter into the US.  So, if there is an 8 week contracted period, with 40 hours/week minimum, the least number of hours that would need to be paid is (30x8=240hours) 240 hours.

15. Can the Packing House use PAR-AG™ Labor Solutions?
1. Yes, IF their work is less than 50% packing (greater than 50% farm related), then they would need to look at the H2A and Temp Local Labor alternatives.  IF they are only looking for packing labor, then they should use H2B labor (which may be less costly).  All PAR-AG™ Labor Solutions alternatives are GUARANTEED DELIVERY FOR THE NUMBER OF WORKERS YOU ASK FOR.

16. Can the workers work at different sites?
1. Yes, as long as the sites are identified and they are related to the initial work contract job descriptions.

17. Does the PAR-AG™ Labor Solutions FLC have Insurance?
1. Yes, and the Grower will be named on the certificate.

18. Does the Government where the workers are from pay for the transportation of the worker to the US?
1. NO.  Be careful if any other entity says there is someone enticing their workers to come to the US.  The LEGAL way for the worker to get to the US is for the EMPLOYER (FLC) to pay for the transportation.

19. How long has the PAR-AG™ Labor Solutions Contractor been in business; do they have references?
1. AAWCOMC has done the due diligence for you.  We can provide references on all FLC work. 

20. Does the FLC supply toilets, ladders and forklifts if needed?
1. Yes.

21. Is there a language issue and how many supervisors are there per group of workers?
1. There are always translators available for groups of workers that arrive to the Growers’ farm.  The number of supervisors (which are paid a $1.50/hour more than the workers) are determined by the Grower.

22. How long does it take to train the workers?
1. Because the PAR-AG™ FLC will train the workers prior to their arrival, usually any local training will require only a individual from the Grower’s farm showing the supervisor how they would like to have the work performed and the learning curve is less than 1 or 2 weeks.

23. How far from the fields do the workers’ housing need to be before wages are paid to the worker for the transportation to and from the field?
1. The general rule of thumb, is the worker should be within 45 minutes of the field from their housing.  If it takes longer than 1 hour (each way) to arrive to the field site, the worker is paid for the time that it takes to travel at the hourly wage rate.

24. Can the worker perform multiple functions with multiple crops during the contract period?
1. Yes.  As long as the work is described in the contract and meets the DOL definitions for farm related work, any job is within the capability of the worker contracted under the PAR-AG™ Labor Solutions FLC.

25. Is there Joint-Employer status between the Grower and the FLC by using the FLC.
1. As long as the Grower follows the rules for interacting only with the supervisor when the workers are at the field, the joint liability may be limited for the farmers’ operations under AAWCO.

26. Can workers be requested to return season to season?
1. We can do our best to bring the same workers back if the client is happy, however, we cannot guarantee anything. We deal with many factors with DOL and Immigration that may affect the performance of the contract. These factors are generally beyond our control, however, we generally do not encounter problems. Our good track record is the assurance we can provide.

27. What is the cost for utilizing AAWCOMC?
1. The cost per employee is a one time cost of $150/employee.  That is if you would hire 10 employees this season and pay the $150/employee, next season there is no $150 fee on the first 10 employees.

28. Is this fee refundable?
1. Yes. If the workers are not delivered you would have the $150 fee refunded.

29. Can the Grower ask for a different worker if they feel they do not want to work with the initial worker provided?
1. Yes.

30.  Will there be any cost for replacement workers?
1. No.  By using PAR-AG™ Labor Solutions you are guaranteed the Quality of Worker you desire and there is no additional cost for replacing workers you ask to be replaced.

31. How long does it take to get workers under the H2A, Temp (Local) Labor, and H2B Labor?
1. H2A labor should take 45 to 60 days;  Temp Labor should only take 1 to 3 days; H2B labor should take 60 to 90 days.