The Agricultural Wage Board sets the standards that all agricultural workers should expect, and it’s really best that you consult them before you go ahead and hire new workers, seasonal or not, to ensure that you are meeting at least the minimum requirements and pay.

However, it’s important to consider that these minimum standards and wages differ slightly depending on the type of position and/or qualification of the worker involved. There are several grades to be considered when employing farm workers:

• The lowest grade – grade 1. Those who have no experience and are not required to carry out any form of specialist task. This would apply to general labourers.
• Standard worker – grade 2. This is a grade that sets out those who are experienced enough to work unsupervised and are skilled enough to handle farm machinery and deal with livestock.
• Grade 3. This outlines all workers who carry a vocational qualification such as an NPTC/City and Guilds Cert. This grade also applies to those who are able to, and have experience of, managing other workers.

They go on, up to grade six which involves a certain amount of experience and qualification in farm management. This brief outline is designed to give you an idea that all these individual grades may require very different pay scales. It’s a good idea to check them all out with the Agricultural Wage Board to make sure you’re offering the right amount of pay.

Breaks

Farm work can be hard and it most certainly doesn’t offer sociable hours. This often causes a problem when it comes to giving your employees the right amount of breaks during their working day. As a general rule you should know that all employees who work above five and a half hours a day are entitled to a break. Rest breaks should be thirty minutes long and you should be able to allow your employee to leave the work place if they wish.

Obviously this isn’t always possible in the farming industry, but if it isn’t there are steps you need to ensure are taken. If you’re employee isn’t able to take a break then you must agree with them that they are aware of this and that they can take a compensatory break at a later time. Because they have missed their break however, you also need to pay special attention to their health and safety; i.e. if they are operating machinery it may be best to get someone else in to do the job or at least closely monitor the employee

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