Know it or not, you may be a farm labor contractor
Wenatchee World Business World
Author: Lindsey Weidenbach
Prior to state or federal involvement, a market existed within the agriculture industry for those who could gather a crew of workers and bring that crew to various farmers to help with certain tasks – be it harvest, pruning or general labor.
The farmer would pay the “crew boss” and it was the responsibility of the crew boss to then pay the workers. However, this second payment, the one to the workers, didn’t always happen. The crew boss would pocket all of the money and bail. When the workers complained or brought charges, the crew boss couldn’t be found. Into the wind.
After receiving enough complaints of this practice and then being unable to track down the perpetrator, the United States Department of Labor created the Farm Labor Contractor registration program. Washington state later adopted its own set of rules, known as the Washington Farm Labor Contractor Act, modeled after the federal registration program.