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Minnesota Farm Labor laws

Minnesota farm labor laws can be found in Minn. Stat. § 181.14, Minn. Stat. § 181.73, Minn. Stat. §§ 181.85 through 181.91, Minn. Stat. §§ 182.653 through 182.654 and Minn. Stat. § 256B.06.  Minn. Stat. § 181.14 deals with payment to employees who quit or resign and settlement of disputes.  Minn. Stat. § 181.73 deals with health insurance of migrant labor.  Minn. Stat. §§ 181.85 through 181.91 deal with migrant labor.  Minn. Stat. §§ 182.653 through 182.654 deal with rights and duties of employers and employees.  Minn. Stat. § 256B.06 deals with medical assistance to migrant workers.

Pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 181.14, when any employee quits or resigns from employment, the wages or commissions earned and unpaid at the time the employee quits or resigns shall become due and payable within five days thereafter.  Wages or commissions not paid within the required time period shall become immediately payable upon the demand of the employee.  If the employee’s earned wages or commissions are not paid within 24 hours after the demand, the employer shall be liable to the employee for an additional sum equal to the amount of the employee’s average daily earnings provided in the contract of employment, for every day, not exceeding 15 days in all, until such payment or other settlement satisfactory to the employee is made[i].

If the employer disputes the amount of wages or commissions claimed by the employee, and the employer makes a legal tender of the amount which the employer in good faith claims to be due, the employer shall not be liable for any sum greater than the amount so tendered and interest thereon at the legal rate, unless, in an action brought in a court having jurisdiction, the employee recovers a greater sum than the amount so tendered with interest thereon.  If, in the suit, the employee fails to recover a greater sum than that so tendered, with interest, the employee shall pay the cost of the suit, otherwise the cost shall be paid by the employer[ii].

Pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 181.73, an employer of a migrant worker shall provide at its expense health care insurance during the period of employment or for illness or injury incurred while employed.

Pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 181.86, an employer that recruits a migrant worker shall provide the migrant worker, at the time the worker is recruited, with a written employment statement which shall state clearly and plainly, in English and Spanish:

1) the date on which and the place at which the statement was completed and provided to the migrant worker;
2) the name and permanent address of the migrant worker, of the employer, and of the recruiter who recruited the migrant worker;
3) the date on which the migrant worker is to arrive at the place of employment, the date on which employment is to begin, the approximate hours of employment, and the minimum period of employment;
4) the crops and the operations on which the migrant worker will be employed;
5) the wage rates to be paid;
6) the payment terms;
7) any deduction to be made from wages.

The employment statement is an enforceable contract between the migrant worker and the employer[iii].

Pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 181.87, each migrant worker who is recruited by an employer is entitled to payment and the employer shall pay wages due to the migrant worker at least every two weeks, except on termination, when the employer shall pay within three days.  The employer shall guarantee to each recruited migrant worker a minimum of 70 hours pay for work in any two successive weeks and, should the pay for hours actually offered by the employer and worked by the migrant worker provide a sum of pay less than the minimum guarantee, the employer shall pay the migrant worker the difference within three days after the scheduled payday for the pay period involved.  Payment for the guaranteed hours shall be at the hourly wage rate, if any, specified in the employment statement, or the federal minimum wage, whichever is higher[iv].

If the migrant worker quits or is fired for cause prior to the completion of the operation for which hired, the migrant worker is entitled to no further guarantee from that employer.  If the migrant worker quits or is fired for cause before the completion of a two-week pay period, the worker is entitled to no guarantee for that period.  The employer may require the migrant worker to vacate the provided housing on final payment of all wages.  If on any day for which work is offered the migrant worker refuses or because of illness or disability is unable to perform work which is offered, the employer may reduce the guarantee available in the pay period by the number of hours of work actually offered by the employer that day.  The employer shall provide a written statement at the time wages are paid clearly itemizing each deduction from wages[v].

Pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 181.89, any migrant worker claiming to be aggrieved by a violation of sections 181.86 to 181.88 may bring a civil action for damages and injunctive relief against the worker’s employer.  If the court finds that any defendant has violated the provisions of sections 181.86 to 181.88, the court shall enter judgment for the actual damages incurred by the plaintiff or the appropriate penalty, whichever is greater.  The court may also award court costs and a reasonable attorney’s fee. The penalties shall be as follows:

1) whenever the court finds that an employer has violated the record-keeping requirements of section 181.88, $50;

2) whenever the court finds that an employer has recruited a migrant worker without providing a written employment statement as provided in section 181.86, subdivision 1, $250;

3) whenever the court finds that an employer has recruited a migrant worker after having provided a written employment statement, but finds that the employment statement fails to comply with the requirement of section 181.86, subdivision 1 or section 181.87, $250;

4) whenever the court finds that an employer has failed to comply with the terms of an employment statement which the employer has provided to a migrant worker or has failed to comply with any payment term required by section 181.87, $500;

5) whenever the court finds that an employer has failed to pay wages to a migrant worker within a time period set forth in section 181.87, subdivision 2 or 3, $500; and

6) whenever penalties are awarded, they shall be awarded severally in favor of each migrant worker plaintiff and against each defendant found liable[vi].

Pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 182.653, each employer shall furnish to each of its employees conditions of employment and a place of employment free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious injury or harm to its employees.  Each employer shall comply with occupational safety and health standards or rules.  Each employer shall assist the commissioner, or an authorized representative of the commissioner, in the performance of inspection duties by supplying or by making available information dealing with injury reports, general safety records, and other records required under this chapter, and any necessary personnel or necessary inspection aids.  An employer who is a manufacturer of a hazardous substance or a mixture of substances shall provide an employer who purchases the substance with the information necessary for the purchasing employer to comply with subdivision 4b of § 182.653.  Each employer who is engaged in a farming operation and employs more than ten employees or who is engaged in a farming operation and maintains a temporary labor camp and employs any of its residents, shall comply with a training program, developed by the commissioner, concerning the hazardous substances and harmful physical agents to which the employees are routinely exposed.  The commissioner shall develop this training program in consultation with experts in agricultural work environment hazards.  Every employer shall have the right to request that their employees sign statements that they have received appropriate training under this subdivision, once training has been completed.  Any employer or association of employers is entitled to participate in the development, revision and revocation of standards by submission of comments on proposed standards, participation in hearings on proposed standards, or by requesting the development of standards on a given issue, under section 182.655[vii].

Pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 182.654, each employee shall comply with occupational safety and health.  Any employee or authorized representative of employees has the right to request an inspection and to consult with the commissioner at the time of the physical inspection of any workplace.  No employee shall be discharged or in any way discriminated against because such employee has filed any complaint or instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding or inspection.  Every employee employed in a farming operation with ten or fewer employees and no temporary labor camp, and any agricultural employee association or union representing that employee, shall have the right, upon request, to receive from their employer, within a reasonable period of time, any information on a label that is required by any federal or state health and safety law to be on the container of any substance or chemical to which the employee is routinely exposed[viii].

An employee acting in good faith has the right to refuse to work under conditions which the employee reasonably believes present an imminent danger of death or serious physical harm to the employee.  An employee who has refused in good faith to perform assigned tasks and who has not been reassigned to other tasks by the employer shall, in addition to retaining a right to continued employment, receive pay for the tasks which would have been performed if (1) the employee requests the commissioner to inspect and determine the nature of the hazardous condition, and (2) the commissioner determines that the employee, by performing the assigned tasks, would have been placed in imminent danger of death or serious physical harm[ix].

Pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 256B.06, a migrant worker shall be eligible for medical assistance and shall have medical needs met by the county in which the worker resides at the time of making application.   Eligibility for medical assistance is limited to citizens of the United States, qualified non citizens, and other persons residing lawfully in the United States.  Non citizens who are not qualified non citizens, who are lawfully present in the United States, as defined in Code of Federal Regulations, title 8, section 103.12, and who otherwise meet the eligibility requirements of this chapter, are eligible for medical assistance.  Payment shall also be made for care and services that are furnished to non citizens, regardless of immigration status, who otherwise meet the eligibility requirements, if such care and services are necessary for the treatment of an emergency medical condition, except for organ transplants and related care and services and routine prenatal care[x].

[i] Minn. Stat. § 181.14.

[ii] Minn. Stat. § 181.14.

[iii] Minn. Stat. § 181.86.

[iv] Minn. Stat. § 181.87.

[v] Minn. Stat. § 181.87.

[vi] Minn. Stat. § 181.89.

[vii] Minn. Stat. § 182.653.

[viii] Minn. Stat. § 182.654.

[ix] Minn. Stat. § 182.654.

[x] Minn. Stat. § 256B.06.


Inside Minnesota Farm Labor laws