Harry Siemens – Concern is the word from agricultural organizations in Manitoba over proposed changes that will expand the scope of the province’s Employment Standards Code to cover most agricultural employees.  The Employment Standards Code outlines the minimum standards employers and employees not covered by collective agreements must meet in their working relationship. It covers most employees under provincial jurisdiction.

Proposed amendments, scheduled to take effect June 30, 2008 represent the first change dealing with agricultural workers since 1957.

Manitoba Labour and Immigration Minister Nancy Allan said the new provisions modernize protection for most agricultural workers.

“The new regulation balances the positions of employers and labour and is the first significant change in over 50 years,” she says. “It provides many of the same basic protections Manitoba workers in almost every other industry now take for granted while recognizing the need for flexibility.”

The Manitoba government revised the code in June 2006 based on recommendations contained in a Labour Management Review Committee report. However, due to the unique nature of agriculture, the government exempted agricultural workers from the changes at that time pending further consultation.

Under the changes planned to take effect this coming June, agricultural workers will have four classifications: Farm workers employed on farm by the farmer; farm workers in climate controlled facilities; farm workers employed by family members; and agricultural service company workers who provide services to farms.

There are 14 provisions under the code. Three, including equal wages, payment of wages and employment records, already apply to all workers, including farm workers.

Once the new code takes effect, provisions dealing with minimum wage, termination notice, child employment, vacations, weekly day of rest, work breaks, unpaid leaves, restrictions on payroll deductions, hours of work/overtime, reporting pay, and holidays will extend to include farm workers in climate controlled facilities and agricultural service company workers who provide services to farms.

Farm workers employed on farm, such as on a grain or vegetable farm, will be exempt from provisions dealing with hours of work and overtime, reporting pay and holidays.

Farm workers employed by family members will be exempt from all but the basic three provisions.

While many felt it was time to update the standards, the employee classifications creates some uncertainty.

Keystone Agricultural Producers, together with its member commodity organizations, has been consulting with government on the issue for the past two years.

“This is fairly complex,” says Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) president Ian Wishart.

Wishart acknowledges the need for updating the labour standards. While industry is already on side with many of the changes, there are points of concern.

“One particular point, where they wish to divide the industry based on climate controlled environments, we were not on side with,” he said. “We see that as a very arbitrary division of the industry, not just sector by sector but the industry as a whole. It’s very confusing.”

Wishart explains that some operations will end up with different workers covered by different standards.

“You would end up with two sets of labour standards on individual farms or, in some cases, one farm impacted and the one down the road not and that gives competitive disadvantages to that particular farm. We don’t want to see that. We clearly prefer the option of dealing with the industry as a whole and not dividing it,” said Wishart.

The newly elected KAP president notes there are also unresolved issues related to harvest exemptions for grain and oilseed producers that will need working out before spring planting.