State of Washington | 62nd Legislature | 2012 Regular Session |
READ FIRST TIME 02/01/12.
AN ACT Relating to a farm internship program; reenacting and amending RCW 49.46.010; adding a new section to chapter 49.12 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 51.16 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 50.04 RCW; creating a new section; and providing an expiration date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 A new section is added to chapter 49.12 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) The director shall establish a farm internship pilot project
until December 1, 2017, for the employment of farm interns on small
farms under special certificates at wages, if any, as authorized by the
department and subject to such limitations as to time, number,
proportion, and length of service as provided in this section and as
prescribed by the department. The pilot project consists of the
following counties: San Juan, Skagit, King, Whatcom, Kitsap, Pierce,
Jefferson, Spokane, Yakima, Chelan, Grant, Kittitas, Lincoln, and
Thurston.
(2) A small farm may employ no more than three interns at one time
under this section.
(3) A small farm must apply for a special certificate on a form
made available by the director. The application must set forth: The
name of the farm and a description of the farm seeking the certificate;
the type of work to be performed by a farm intern; a description of the
internship program; the period of time for which the certificate is
sought and the duration of an internship; the number of farm interns
for which a special certificate is sought; the wages, if any, that will
be paid to the farm intern; any room and board, stipends, and other
remuneration the farm will provide to a farm intern; and the total
number of workers employed by the farm.
(4) Upon receipt of an application, the department shall review the
application and issue a special certificate to the requesting farm
within fifteen days if the department finds that:
(a) The farm qualifies as a small farm;
(b) There have been no serious violations of chapter 49.46 RCW or
Title 51 RCW that provide reasonable grounds to believe that the terms
of an internship agreement may not be complied with;
(c) The issuance of a certificate will not create unfair
competitive labor cost advantages nor have the effect of impairing or
depressing wage or working standards established for experienced
workers for work of a like or comparable character in the industry or
occupation at which the intern is to be employed;
(d) A farm intern will not displace an experienced worker; and
(e) The farm demonstrates that the interns will perform work for
the farm under an internship program that: (i) Provides a curriculum
of learning modules and supervised participation in farm work
activities designed to teach farm interns about farming practices and
farm enterprises; (ii) is based on the bona fide curriculum of an
educational or vocational institution; and (iii) is reasonably designed
to provide the intern with vocational knowledge and skills about
farming practices and enterprises. In assessing an internship program,
the department may consult with relevant college and university
departments and extension programs and state and local government
agencies involved in the regulation or development of agriculture.
(5) A special certificate issued under this section must specify
the terms and conditions under which it is issued, including: The name
of the farm; the duration of the special certificate allowing the
employment of farm interns and the duration of an internship; the total
number of interns authorized under the special certificate; the
authorized wage rate, if any; and any room and board, stipends, and
other remuneration the farm will provide to the farm intern. A farm
worker may be paid at wages specified in the certificate only during
the effective period of the certificate and for the duration of the
internship.
(6) If the department denies an application for a special
certificate, notice of denial must be mailed to the farm. The farm
listed on the application may, within fifteen days after notice of such
action has been mailed, file with the director a petition for review of
the denial, setting forth grounds for seeking such a review. If
reasonable grounds exist, the director or the director's authorized
representative may grant such a review and, to the extent deemed
appropriate, afford all interested persons an opportunity to be heard
on such review.
(7) Before employing a farm intern, a farm must submit a statement
on a form made available by the director stating that the farm
understands: The requirements of the industrial welfare act, chapter
49.12 RCW, that apply to farm interns; that the farm must pay workers'
compensation premiums in the assigned intern risk class and must pay
workers' compensation premiums for nonintern work hours in the
applicable risk class; and that if the farm does not comply with
subsection (8) of this section, the director may revoke the special
certificate.
(8) The director may revoke a special certificate issued under this
section if a farm fails to: Comply with the requirements of the
industrial welfare act, chapter 49.12 RCW, that apply to farm interns;
pay workers' compensation premiums in the assigned intern risk class;
or pay workers' compensation premiums in the applicable risk class for
nonintern work hours.
(9) Before the start of a farm internship, the farm and the intern
must sign a written agreement and send a copy of the agreement to the
department. The written agreement must, at a minimum:
(a) Describe the internship program offered by the farm, including
the skills and objectives the program is designed to teach and the
manner in which those skills and objectives will be taught;
(b) Explicitly state that the intern is not entitled to
unemployment benefits or minimum wages for work and activities
conducted pursuant to the internship program for the duration of the
internship;
(c) Describe the responsibilities, expectations, and obligations of
the intern and the farm, including the anticipated number of hours of
farm activities to be performed by and the anticipated number of hours
of curriculum instruction provided to the intern per week;
(d) Describe the activities of the farm and the type of work to be
performed by the farm intern; and
(e) Describes any wages, room and board, stipends, and other
remuneration the farm will provide to the farm intern.
(10) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this
section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(a) "Farm intern" means an individual who provides services to a
small farm under a written agreement and primarily as a means of
learning about farming practices and farm enterprises.
(b) "Farm internship program" means an internship program described
under subsection (4)(e) of this section.
(c) "Small farm" means a farm:
(i) Organized as a sole proprietorship, partnership, or
corporation;
(ii) That reports on the applicant's schedule F of form 1040 or
other applicable form filed with the United States internal revenue
service annual sales less than two hundred fifty thousand dollars; and
(iii) Where all the owners or partners of the farm provide regular
labor to and participate in the management of the farm, and own or
lease the productive assets of the farm.
(11) The department shall monitor and evaluate the farm internships
authorized by this section and report to the appropriate committees of
the legislature by December 31, 2017. The report must include, but not
be limited to: The number of small farms that applied for and received
special certificates; the number of interns employed as farm interns;
the nature of the educational activities provided to the farm interns;
the wages and other remuneration paid to farm interns; the number of
and type of workers' compensation claims for farm interns; the
employment of farm interns following farm internships; and other
matters relevant to assessing farm internships authorized in this
section.
Sec. 2 RCW 49.46.010 and 2011 1st sp.s. c 43 s 462 are each
reenacted and amended to read as follows:
As used in this chapter:
(1) "Director" means the director of labor and industries;
(2) "Employ" includes to permit to work;
(3) "Employee" includes any individual employed by an employer but
shall not include:
(a) Any individual (i) employed as a hand harvest laborer and paid
on a piece rate basis in an operation which has been, and is generally
and customarily recognized as having been, paid on a piece rate basis
in the region of employment; (ii) who commutes daily from his or her
permanent residence to the farm on which he or she is employed; and
(iii) who has been employed in agriculture less than thirteen weeks
during the preceding calendar year;
(b) Any individual employed in casual labor in or about a private
home, unless performed in the course of the employer's trade, business,
or profession;
(c) Any individual employed in a bona fide executive,
administrative, or professional capacity or in the capacity of outside
salesperson as those terms are defined and delimited by rules of the
director. However, those terms shall be defined and delimited by the
human resources director pursuant to chapter 41.06 RCW for employees
employed under the director of personnel's jurisdiction;
(d) Any individual engaged in the activities of an educational,
charitable, religious, state or local governmental body or agency, or
nonprofit organization where the employer-employee relationship does
not in fact exist or where the services are rendered to such
organizations gratuitously. If the individual receives reimbursement
in lieu of compensation for normally incurred out-of-pocket expenses or
receives a nominal amount of compensation per unit of voluntary service
rendered, an employer-employee relationship is deemed not to exist for
the purpose of this section or for purposes of membership or
qualification in any state, local government, or publicly supported
retirement system other than that provided under chapter 41.24 RCW;
(e) Any individual employed full time by any state or local
governmental body or agency who provides voluntary services but only
with regard to the provision of the voluntary services. The voluntary
services and any compensation therefor shall not affect or add to
qualification, entitlement, or benefit rights under any state, local
government, or publicly supported retirement system other than that
provided under chapter 41.24 RCW;
(f) Any newspaper vendor or carrier;
(g) Any carrier subject to regulation by Part 1 of the Interstate
Commerce Act;
(h) Any individual engaged in forest protection and fire prevention
activities;
(i) Any individual employed by any charitable institution charged
with child care responsibilities engaged primarily in the development
of character or citizenship or promoting health or physical fitness or
providing or sponsoring recreational opportunities or facilities for
young people or members of the armed forces of the United States;
(j) Any individual whose duties require that he or she reside or
sleep at the place of his or her employment or who otherwise spends a
substantial portion of his or her work time subject to call, and not
engaged in the performance of active duties;
(k) Any resident, inmate, or patient of a state, county, or
municipal correctional, detention, treatment or rehabilitative
institution;
(l) Any individual who holds a public elective or appointive office
of the state, any county, city, town, municipal corporation or quasi
municipal corporation, political subdivision, or any instrumentality
thereof, or any employee of the state legislature;
(m) All vessel operating crews of the Washington state ferries
operated by the department of transportation;
(n) Any individual employed as a seaman on a vessel other than an
American vessel;
(o) Any farm intern providing his or her services to a small farm
which has a special certificate issued under section 1 of this act;
(4) "Employer" includes any individual, partnership, association,
corporation, business trust, or any person or group of persons acting
directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an
employee;
(5) "Occupation" means any occupation, service, trade, business,
industry, or branch or group of industries or employment or class of
employment in which employees are gainfully employed;
(6) "Retail or service establishment" means an establishment
seventy-five percent of whose annual dollar volume of sales of goods or
services, or both, is not for resale and is recognized as retail sales
or services in the particular industry;
(7) "Wage" means compensation due to an employee by reason of
employment, payable in legal tender of the United States or checks on
banks convertible into cash on demand at full face value, subject to
such deductions, charges, or allowances as may be permitted by rules of
the director.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3 A new section is added to chapter 51.16 RCW
to read as follows:
The department shall adopt rules to provide special workers'
compensation risk class or classes for farm interns providing
agricultural labor pursuant to a farm internship program under section
1 of this act. The rules must include any requirements for obtaining
a special risk class that must be met by small farms.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4 A new section is added to chapter 50.04 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) Except for services subject to RCW 50.44.010, 50.44.020,
50.44.030, or 50.50.010, the term "employment" does not include service
performed in agricultural labor by a farm intern providing his or her
services under a farm internship program as established in section 1 of
this act.
(2) For purposes of this section, "agricultural labor" means:
(a) Services performed on a farm, in the employ of any person, in
connection with the cultivation of the soil, or in connection with
raising or harvesting any agricultural or horticultural commodity,
including raising, shearing, feeding, caring for, training, and
management of livestock, bees, poultry, and furbearing animals and
wildlife, or in the employ of the owner or tenant or other operator of
a farm in connection with the operation, management, conservation,
improvement, or maintenance of such farm and its tools and equipment;
(b) Services performed in packing, packaging, grading, storing, or
delivering to storage, or to market or to a carrier for transportation
to market, any agricultural or horticultural commodity; but only if
such service is performed as an incident to ordinary farming
operations. The exclusions from the term "employment" provided in this
subsection (2)(b) are not applicable with respect to commercial packing
houses, commercial storage establishments, commercial canning,
commercial freezing, or any other commercial processing or with respect
to services performed in connection with the cultivation, raising,
harvesting and processing of oysters or raising and harvesting of
mushrooms; or
(c) Direct local sales of any agricultural or horticultural
commodity after its delivery to a terminal market for distribution or
consumption.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5 Appropriations made for the purposes of this
act must be from the state general fund.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6 This act expires December 31, 2017.