The Pay Stub Disclosure Act

From Interfaith Worker Justice (http://www.iwj.org/)

As many as 20 million U.S. working men and women, including farmworker and poultry workers, do not receive pay stubs outlining how their pay is calculated or what deductions were taken from their wages. Too often, workers who don't receive pay stubs are victims of wage theft, cheated of the pay they legally earned.

Currently, there is no there is no federal requirement that employers give workers pay stubs. Without a paystub, workers are not only at a disadvantage in determining if they have been paid correctly, but without documentation, they have difficulty proving the violation.

In January, Representative Bobby Scott has introduced a bill, The Pay Stub Disclosure Act (HR 4376), in the US House of Representatives requiring employers to provide workers with information that employers are already required to keep and thereby help deter wage theft.

The Pay Stub Transparency Act would:

• Require a uniform federal pay stub, making it easier for multi-state employers who currently face a patchwork of varying state laws.
• Require employers to provide information to employees covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage and overtime requirements, with a pay stub that explain how their wages are calculated, including whether they were paid overtime.
• Give employees the right to inspect their employers’ pay records.
• Give employees the ability to go to court to seek financial remedy when their rights to a pay stub or records inspection are violated.
• Codify the legal presumption that if an employer fails to keep records of an employee’s pay, the employee’s own credible evidence and testimony about his or her pay is presumed to be true.

The Pay Stub Transparency Act is important because wage theft, which is rampant in throughout the U.S, is especially devastating for workers in low-wage jobs. Too often, workers’ pay is illegally whittled down by undercounting the hours they worked, paying illegal wage rates or taking unauthorized deductions.

Many workers are paid in cash, by check without any explanation or calculation, or with a payroll debit card that either doesn’t have a pay stub feature or that charges workers a fee to see their pay stubs. One recent study of 4,000 low-paid workers found that 57 percent did not get a paystub.

By requiring employers to provide pay stubs, workers will receive more of their legally owed wages and deter wage theft.

First, employers would think twice about underpaying workers their wages if the hours and wage rates had to be reported regularly on a paystub. Studies show that those employers who pay in cash or without proper paystubs are often ones who steal wages from workers. 

Second, workers who understand how they are paid (or underpaid) would be better equipped to talk with their employers about discrepancies between their own records and the employers’. 

Third, workers who discovered that their employers were cheating and couldn’t resolve the problems directly with their employers would have better information for filing a wage complaint.

The Pay Stub Disclosure Act is a common-sense piece of legislation that will help workers know their rights to be properly paid, will give them the tools to ensure that they are being compensated as they should be, and in if necessary, the proof and documentation they need to help recover stolen wages.

Consider calling your Congressperson to ask that they co-sponsor this common-sense piece of legislation.

New! Facts about North Carolina's Poultry Processing Workers

Farmworker Advocacy Network’s (FAN) Harvest of Dignity campaign has recently published a new factsheet on poultry processing in North Carolina, one of the state’s top agricultural commodities. This new resource contrasts the profits of the billion-dollar poultry industry with the health and safety hazards, poverty-level wages, and fear that many of the poultry processing workers face in North Carolina.   

 “… a closer look inside this profitable industry reveals hazardous work conditions and low wages for its workers, with few workplace protections and a climate of discrimination.” 

Read and/or download the full factsheet and recommendations here. 

Sign up to receive email updates on how to get involved in the movement to support North Carolina poultry workers. 

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS EDUCATE AND ASSIST YOUTH ELIGIBLE FOR DEFERRED ACTION

CONTACT: Lucia Constantine, Intern

(p) 919.660.3672 (e) lucia.constan@gmail.com

Durham, NC – Student Action with Farmworkers, in collaboration with NC

Farmworkers’ Project and Hatch Rockers Immigration, is coordinating a series of

legal assistance workshops around Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. DACA

is an immigration policy set forth by President Obama that provides temporary

relief from deportation for eligible undocumented youth. The first workshop took

place this past Saturday at Episcopal Farmworker Ministry in Dunn, NC. Over

thirty people attended, driving from as far as Burlington and Snow Hill.

Subsequent workshops will take place in December in Benson and Clayton.

Earlier this year, SAF was awarded a grant by Hispanics in Philanthropy to build

its capacity to provide services to Latino farmworker families. Through this grant,

SAF and its partners will provide education and legal assistance to Latino

farmworker families who might qualify for DACA. Jack Rockers, an attorney with

Hatch Rockers Immigration, will work with up to 30 eligible individuals in

navigating the DACA process at no additional cost. Youth who meet the

requirements and are granted DACA status can then apply for work permits.

The next workshop is on Saturday December 5 at Benson Area Medical Center

from 9:30 – 11:30am. The last workshop will occur on December 19

that NC Works in Clayton, NC from 9:30 – 11:30am.

Student Action with Farmworkers (SAF) brings students and farmworkers

together to learn about each other’s lives, share resources and skills, improve

conditions for farmworkers, and build diverse coalitions working for social

change.

The NC Farmworkers’ Project empowers farmworkers to find solutions to their

problems collectively, promotes the political participation of workers and strives to

improve their living conditions

A New Meaning of El Día de Los Muertos

Photo courtesy of SAF intern, Lucia ConstantineI approached the stairs where the beautifully decorated altar stood, my heart started beating louder than normal and it was time to confront the uneasy feeling I was experiencing all morning. “Hello and Bienvenidos to FAN’s annual Día de Los Muertos,” were the first words I said as I attempted to overcome my fear of public speaking. I got a grip of the podium, located my focus point, and glanced at my notes as I led the symbolic event where all 70 of us gathered to celebrate the lives of farm and poultry workers who were injured or died on the job in North Carolina. The undesirable feelings eventually faded away as I reminded myself the purpose of our gathering on that rainy Sunday afternoon.   

A few months prior to the event, I was assigned to a team to help plan and carry out the event. Along with a few other tasks, I was responsible for researching the death of farm and poultry workers as well as writing short obituaries that would be read to the audience during the event -  easy enough, right? Surprisingly enough, the task to locate the number of farm and poultry worker deaths was much more difficult than I had anticipated. Unaware of the Department of Labor’s unwillingness to report workers death, I was disappointed to find out that many workers’ deaths go uncounted or acknowledged in a state that prides itself in being the largest user of H-2A workers in the nation. The only information I had was a list of 40 agricultural worker fatalities or injuries that listed a name, age, county and in one word, a description of their unfortunate incident. Out of the long list, all I was able to locate was a small twenty-second report on Alejandro Cortes, a 36-year- old who suffocated to death after falling into a grain bin in Monroe, North Carolina.

Photo courtsy of SAF intern, Lucia Constantine

 Upset by the little recognition of his death, I called the news station that released the story and the sheriff that was present at the scene of Alejandro’s death to only be told that his death continues to be under investigation by the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Alejandro’s untimely death has given me a new meaning of el Día de Los Muertos/ Day of the Dead, a tradition held by many Latino families in celebration of honoring and remembering the life of deceased loved ones. His death has lead me to acknowledge a population that receives very little recognition, but does so much to provide goods to consumers like myself. This rich tradition has contributed to my personal and professional values as a social worker. It is my responsibility to continue challenging the social injustice that agricultural workers encounter every day in our North Carolina fields. It is my duty to prevent oppression, eliminate worker exploitation, and advocate for better enforced laws. As the Advocacy and Organizing intern with Student Action with Farmworkers, I am gaining the skills required to uphold the organization’s vision where students and community members actively work together with farmworkers for justice in the agricultural system. Our agricultural workers deserve more recognition than to solely be listed on a piece of paper with a name, age, and county.

 The Farmworker Advocacy Network (FAN), a coalition of North Carolina organizations working for better working and living conditions for farm and poultry workers, convenes a Day of the Dead/Día de los Muertos community altar and press conference annually. It is one of FAN’s many activities to engage the community and to advocate with and for farmworkers for worker dignity and justice.

Lives on the Line -- A New Report on U.S. Poultry Workers

"Chicken is the most popular meat in the country; Americans consume 89 pounds per capita every year. Yet the people who process the birds that end up on our plates remain largely invisible. Over the past 50 years, poultry has ballooned to a $50 billion industry—while nearly a quarter of a million workers in the processing plants endure dangerous conditions and poverty-level wages every day," begins the Executive Summary of a compelling new report and interactive website from Oxfam America, Lives on the Line. 

North Carolina ranks #3 in the nation for poultry production. In fact, it is our state's top agricultural commodity. But little is known about the thousands of workers in our state who work on dangerously fast production lines, earning low wages and enduring a climate of fear. One of FAN's member organizations, the Western North Carolina Workers Center, played an important role in Oxfam's report, assisting for years with research and interviews with poultry plant employees. 

Take a moment to visit and share this interactive website that offers a glimpse inside the hidden side of a booming industry and learn more about things you can do to help those whose lives are on the line. 

FAN issues Press Statement on EPA's New Worker Protection Standard

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press contacts: Preston Peck, Toxic Free NC – (919) 833-1123, preston@toxicfreenc.org

Strengthened Federal Worker Protection Standard Applauded in North Carolina, but Focus Now Turns to Enforcement

RALEIGH, NC, October 12, 2015. The amended Worker Protection Standard (WPS)--the set of agricultural worker safety requirements overseen by the EPA--includes strengthened and new provisions intended to further protect farmworkers and pesticide applicators from exposure to pesticides. These new rules establish a minimum age of 18 for pesticide handlers; increases the frequency of worker safety training from once every five years to every year; improves the content and quality of worker safety trainings; provides new rules on decontamination and personal protective equipment; and improves the quality of information that workers receive about the pesticides that have been applied at their workplace.

“These provisions are a strong step forward toward protecting North Carolina’s farmworkers and their families from the detrimental effects of pesticides,” said Preston Peck, Policy Advocate with Toxic Free NC. “However, we will now be turning our focus towards the EPA and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture to ensure that this standard is effectively implemented and enforced”.

North Carolina’s Farmworker Advocacy Network (FAN), a coalition that advocates for farmworkers’ rights, played a strong role in the development of these provisions through collecting dozens of statements from farmworkers and others in the state who provide direct services to them during the EPA’s public comment period to ensure that farmworkers’ voices were heard by regulatory agencies. In April 2014, the coalition facilitated an in-person listening session at the annual NC Farmworker Institute with key EPA staff to hear directly from workers about their experiences with pesticides and their opinions about the proposed changes.

“It was crucial to let farmworkers have a say in the updates to the laws that affect them daily,” says Nadeen Bir, Advocacy and Organizing Director at Student Action with Farmworkers. “FAN will continue our conversations with farmworkers to determine how the improved standard is actually being implemented.”

Some provisions that FAN wanted in the new WPS, such as medical monitoring, were absent from the final provisions released on Monday. They say that they now wish to partner with the EPA and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture to ensure that the new rules are implemented swiftly and that there is strong enforcement of the safety standard. Farmworkers have been on the front lines of occupational exposure to pesticides for decades, and many have suffered acute and chronic symptoms from close contact with toxic pesticides in the fields. It has taken more than 20 years for the Worker Protection Standard to be updated and revised, but farmworkers, advocates, health providers and residents of rural communities hope that EPA’s improved rule leads to real improvements in workplace safety for agricultural workers.

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The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs Grants Funds to West Africa – But What About the Children in the U.S.?

Zulema Lopez, one of the three farmworker children featured in the film, The Harvest.Most recently, a grant of $12 million provided by U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs to West Africa. The purpose of this grant is to help reduce child labor in the cocoa industry of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana. The grants are intended to fund projects that will ensure children in Côte d'Ivoire receive quality education, learn marketable skills, and employ at safe and age-appropriate jobs. Furthermore, a portion of the funds will aid efforts to empower local communities to take initiative in developing an action plan and bring awareness of child labor in cocoa growing areas. More information about this grant can be found on the U.S. Department of Labor website.

Although the idea sounds promising to this particular community, it is important to recognize that child labor is occurring in the United States. While the U.S. department of Labor acknowledges the issue of child labor in other countries, it also continues to neglect the thousands of children working U.S agricultural industries. According to the National Center for Farmworker Health, INC., it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of children under the age of 18 work in the farms picking the fruits and vegetables that support the multi-billion dollar agricultural industry in the United States. Shockingly enough, children are allowed to work in agricultural as early as age 7 for a few hours, and usually by age 12 they are out of school.

Can you imagine a 7 year old carrying buckets of sweet potatoes across the fields to simply be paid a few dollars a day? I ask myself how is it possible that while children in the U.S. continue to work in hazardous work conditions that my country is focused on funding projects that try to stop this in other countries? Friends please imagine a child you may know and picture them working in the fields, exposed to heat, pesticides, hazardous machinery, and most importantly, deprived of their childhood while our government allows it. 

Imagine that Farmworkers Were Not Afraid of Losing Their Jobs

By: Dave Austin, FLOC Organizer 

At the 4/16/15 Farmworker Institute I again had the pleasure of talking with farmworker support organization staff from around the state about their important work. The organizations ranged from farmworker health services to legal aid services to housing rehab services to faith-based institutions providing material and spiritual aid to farmworkers.  These dedicated folks are uniformly devoted to their work, and to farmworkers. But I couldn’t help hearing some frustration and resignation in their voices when I asked about the impacts they feel they are making.  For example, staff of an organization that provides health services for migrant farmworkers talked to me about barriers they face. Certainly farmworkers face living and working condition hazards that result in poor health.  But beyond that truism, I heard these service providers saying things like:

•  Identifying health risks/hazards for farmworkers through health education and training has little impact, because farmworkers are powerless to insist on changes – especially if those changes would cost the grower.
• Workers are extremely reluctant to ask for time off for illness, or to see a health care provider about symptoms. They fear losing wages, and also retaliation. They fear for their jobs.
• The opportunity to enact more effective health & safety regulations and laws is severely limited because the current political climate tends in the opposite direction and/or there is no worker constituency that can argue on its own behalf, and behind which supporters could rally. And even if a new regulation was passed, it’s doubtful there would be meaningful enforcement on the ground. 

The responses from staff in other farmworker service sectors (e.g. legal support of worker rights; housing) were pretty similar.  A summarizing conclusion might be: no matter how good our outreach; no matter how well and conveniently we provide services; no matter how strategically we plan policy change campaigns, farmworkers’ fear of losing their jobs, or discrimination on the job, stalls their participation. And that participation is absolutely essential to meaningful accomplishment for our organizations/agencies. Farmworkers’ fear undercuts the impacts we might have.   

My own conclusion is that, over the years, there are more and more farmworker support organizations/agencies, working harder and harder, but – as illustrated in SAF’s film Harvest of Dignity – having only limited significant impact on farmworkers’ lives across the state.  As a volunteer with the Farmworker Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), I believe that only membership in a union can afford a farmworker the job protection that will allow him/her to collaborate with, to facilitate, and to benefit from, the services that farmworker support organizations provide.

While many people know little about FLOC or how a union operates, with each successful grievance resolution more FLOC members understand how the union works. Building the union is painstaking work. And the work is not just in the fields and labor camps. To build farmworker organizations, there must be “freedom of association” for farmworkers – that is, farmworkers must have the legally protected right to join together in whatever kind of association they decide they need. To achieve that right, FLOC is coordinating a “corporate campaign” that is pressuring RJ Reynolds and the other international tobacco companies to affirm this right, and its guaranteed implementation “on the ground”  -- because only large corporate commodity processors like RJR have the power and resources to insure this systemic change of a major guarantee of human rights for farmworkers in the commodity chain.  

This corporate campaign requires engaging diverse allies, from national faith based organizations to the international allies, like progressive members of the British Parliament, and labor allies in Europe.  It is also a massive job. Farmworker unions, like Cesar Chavez’ United Farm Workers, have succeeded only when there was consistent, strong public support.  That help is often just showing up – at a rally, at a corporate shareholders meeting, or wherever, because public support is what ultimately wins corporate campaigns – when large corporations finally see what the advocates see – that creating a system that recognizes worker human rights is, ultimately, a win-win for corporate processors, for growers, and for workers.    

There would seem to be no more natural allies for farmworker union organizing than staff/volunteers/friends of farmworker support organizations --  because you already know about the conditions farmworkers face, including their fear of losing their jobs. I hope you will hear this plea to lend support – either organizationally, or personally, or both, to the farmworker union organizing effort.