Legal Resources for Farmers

Farm Commons is re-developing their legal resources for farmers on the legal aspects of farm internship and apprenticeship programs, especially paying in-kind wages (food, lodging and other non-cash resources) to workers.

Recently, wthey released new, detailed legal materials for farm programs that pay in-kind wages: wages in the form of food, lodging and other non-cash resources. This complex area of law will take time to fully understand and these put a farmer well on her or his way:

• The Federal Commodity Wage Exception to Payroll Taxes: Learn who is eligible for this exception and what factors should a farmer consider before taking advantage of the opportunity.
• Migrant Worker Laws and Providing Housing: Learn when and how farms that provide housing to their workers become subject to the federal Migrant and Seasonal Worker Protection Act.
• Federal OSHA Impacts When Providing Housing: Federal OSHA rules become enforceable against many farms that provide housing to workers. Find out if you are affected.
• Our state specific farm employment law webinars for Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, and Ohio discuss each state’s particular in-kind wage rules.

Broadly, their Building a Legally Sound Intern and Volunteer Program for Farm Work webinar from this past winter discusses many of the latest changes in intern, apprentice, and volunteer law for folks in any state. Watch it anytime or access it on our podcast channel for listening on the go. You will learn:

• How the latest lawsuits and appeals are shaping the role of the federal DOL’s 6 criteria for a legal unpaid internship program
• Effective risk management for farms that choose to offer below-minimum-wage intern and volunteer programs
• The legal perspective on innovative work-for-food/housing programs
• The basic legal considerations for providing in-kind wages including zoning, federal laws, and more.

Get these legal resources for for farmers at their website. Users need to create an account, which will allow you to save legal resources for farmers at your profile. This also means they can more easily get you updates. Creating an account is easy, and this video will walk you through it. Although their site uses a “shopping cart” function to get them to you, all of their resources are FREE.