Posts Tagged: wage
Ag labor management seminars offer keys to success in times of labor uncertainty
UC Cooperative Extension will hold workshops in Temecula Feb. 1 and 2 to help California agricultural employers facing many challenges including labor shortages, wage & hour laws, joint liability, worker safety, workers comp insurance, and immigration issues and policies.
“Agricultural employers and managers are better prepared to face uncertainty in labor markets with up-to-date information and strategies for dealing with people management, and legal and regulatory issues,” said Ramiro Lobo, UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor in San Diego County and workshop organizer. Additional program partners are the California Farm Labor Contractor Association, Zenith Insurance Company and Wilson Creek Winery and Vineyards.
“Management and Supervision of Personnel for Agricultural Operations,” will be offered in Spanish on Feb. 2. The program, intended for agricultural employers/managers and first-line supervisors, provides information on effective supervision and management in times of labor shortage, updates on labor laws and regulations, positive and clear communications, and preventing sexual harassment and bullying.
“Properly managing personnel is critical because of the scarcity of labor,” Lobo said. “We will provide strategies to retain employees by making the workplace more attractive.”
Advance registration is available with a credit card at http://ucanr.edu/2017aglaborseminar. Registration for the Feb. 1 workshop is $80 per person before Jan. 20, and $100 after or at the door, if space allows. Registration for the Feb. 2 workshop is $60 per person before Jan. 20, and $80 after or at the door, if space allows. A registration discount is available for participants to attend both events. For both events, registration is $120 before Jan. 20, and $140 after or at the door, if space allows.
For more information visit the event website at http://ucanr.edu/2017farmlaborseminar
7:00 am Registration and Continental Breakfast
7:50 am Welcome, Introductions, Acknowledgments, and Overview
8:00 am A Review of Labor Management Issues in Southern California – Panel Discussion
Mike Mellano, Mellano and Company ? Greg Pennyroyal, Wilson Creek Winery & Winery ? Eric Larson, San Diego County Farm Bureau
9:00 am Wage & Hour, Labor Laws Update: Tony Raimondo, Raimondo & Associates
10:00 am BREAK
10:30 am Managing Joint Liability under AB 1897 - Bryan Little, California Farm Bureau Federation, Farm Employer Labor Service
11:15 am The Basics for Legal and Effective Hiring & Orientation for Agricultural Labor - Lupe Sandoval - California Farm Labor Contractor Association
12:00 noon LUNCH
1:00 pm Effective Management of Work Injuries - Chris Boehme, Zenith Insurance Company
1:45 pm Keeping Workers Safe, and Cal OSHA Happy - Bill Krycia, Cal OSHA
2:30 pm BREAK
2:45 pm Selection and Development of Front-Line Supervisors - Lupe Sandoval, California Farm Labor Contractor Association
3:30 pm The H2A Visa Program & What You Need to Know - Jeanne M. Malitz, Malitz Law, Inc.
4:15 pm Labor Shortages – Assorted Strategies – Jeanne Malitz, Malitz Law, Inc., Lupe Sandoval, California Farm Labor Contractor Association and Ramiro Lobo, UCCE San Diego County
5:00 pm Conference Evaluation, Adjourn to Optional Wine Tasting hosted by Wilson Creek Winery and Vineyards!!
2017 FarmLaborSeminar Agenda
The retirement crisis facing Hispanics
According to data from the Economic Policy Institute, only 26% of Hispanic families had savings in a retirement plan like a 401(k) or IRA, in 2013. Meanwhile, 65% of white families and 41% of black families and 58% of Asian families and those of other races had savings in such accounts.
Part of the reason for this gap is that many Hispanics, particularly those that work in low wage jobs, don't have access to retirement plans, said Monique Morrissey, an economist at the EPI who analyzed data from the Federal Reserve for the report.
Immigrant Hispanic workers, for example, are often more likely to be undocumented and therefore working off the books or work in low wage jobs that don't offer access to retirement accounts, Morrissey said. Native-born Hispanics, however, are more likely to have access to and participate in retirement accounts at rates closer to those of African-Americans, Morrissey said.
"Most whites are not doing well, blacks and Hispanics are doing terrible and immigrant Hispanics are doing the worst of all when it comes to retirement savings," Morrissey said.
Low rates of participation also contribute to low rates of retirement savings. In 2013, white workers between the ages of 32 and 61 had an average of $125,000 in retirement savings compared to $26,500 for blacks and $16,800 for Hispanics. For Asians and those of other races or ethnicities, the average retirement savings in 2013 was $100,000.
"[The] savings in these accounts magnify income inequality," Morrissey said.
The retirement savings gap also closely mirrors the overall racial wealth gap in America. Wealth, or net worth, is the value of assets including your home, retirement savings and income minus the debt owed against those assets. According to federal data, the median wealth for white families in 2013 was around $141,900, compared to Hispanics at about $13,700 and blacks at about $11,000.
For Morrissey, the trends are troubling. Initially, plans like 401(k)s and IRAs supplemented pension accounts or provided an alternative for employees who did not have access to a pension, Morrissey said. But since the 1990s, they have become the main source of retirement savings for many private sector workers. And since many employers have begun matching less of their employees' contributions, more of the savings burden has been placed on employees.
Access is another issue. Hispanics and blacks often work for small businesses and in low-wage, non-union jobs that offer few retirement savings options, Morrissey said. The overall number of public sector jobs with secure pensions, which were often considered a clear path into the middle class, has also been on the decline.
That has only served to widen the gap.
At least two-thirds of all of the wealth in 401(k) accounts is concentrated among the top 20% of earners, Morrissey said. Those who get paid more "can afford to put in more, they can afford to invest in higher return assets, they are more likely to have more generous employee matches," she said.
As a result, many Hispanics rely on Social Security as their sole financial support in retirement, a move that experts say puts many workers in a precarious situation.
Since Hispanics are more likely to live longer than blacks and whites, they are also more likely to work longer into their old age, Morrissey said. Some Hispanic workers "are going to work longer, and they are going to rely on their families and they are going to be poor," she said.
Undocumented workers who may not be using their own Social Security card to qualify for employment and for tax purposes will also see little, if any, of the Social Security benefits they accrue over the years, Morrissey said.
"We have that huge swath of the demographic that is underprepared and underfunded and Social Security is not going to be enough," said Ramona Ortega, founder of Mi Dinero Mi Futuro (My Money My Future), a financial technology company that helps Hispanic millennials manage their money.
When they do have access to employer retirement plans, Hispanic workers generally don't contribute as much to those plans "either because they can't afford it or because they don't understand it," Ortega said. Hispanics are also less likely to buy life insurance and more likely to borrow against their 401(k), she added.
They are also more likely to rely on family for financial support. While that provides a certain amount of security and stability, it can also come at a cost for younger family members. That's why millennial Hispanics are Ortega's focus. "We don't think about financial planning because we are in survival mode," Ortega said.
Young Hispanics need to start saving for retirement much earlier, Ortega said. They also need to think about estate planning, buying insurance and watching their credit. Doing so, she said, can help prevent "a financial emergency from becoming a financial crisis."
Source: Published originally on CNN Money as The retirement crisis facing Hispanics by Tanzina Vega, March 2, 2016.
UC contractors and vendors must comply with fair wage plan
As described in Human Resources' Oct. 14, ANR Update email, the UC Fair Wage/Fair Work Plan became effective Oct. 1, 2015. It is important to note that the plan applies not only to UC personnel, but also to contractors/vendors doing business with and providing services to UC. The UC Fair Wage/Fair Work Plan also provides measures to ensure contractor compliance including a dedicated telephone hotline (1-855-WAGES-UC) and webpage by which contract workers may report complaints directly to the Office of the President.
As the first university in the country to voluntarily set a minimum wage, compliance with this requirement will be scrutinized carefully. To ensure compliance, effective immediately it is imperative that UC ANR personnel do not allow contractors and/or vendors to perform work or provide services to UC ANR unless and until a properly authorized UC agreement is in place. (Common types of UC ANR work or services that are subject to the Fair Wage policy include repair services, farm labor contractor services, agricultural services, construction services, etc.)
UC policy has always required that an authorized UC purchase order (or other appropriate form of contract) be executed before work begins. With the implementation of the UC Fair Wage/Fair Work Plan, however, it is critical that UC ANR obtain services only from firms that will execute a contract guaranteeing payment of the plan's minimum wage, as described in UC's factsheet. Accordingly, the vendor's willingness to do this must be confirmed prior to the start of work.
Allowing work to proceed before an appropriately authorized UC purchase order is issued will be considered a breach of UC policy (an unauthorized purchase), and is very likely to trigger new/additional administrative requirements, cause delay and impede payment to the vendor.
The following UC ANR administrative staff members are available to assist you with this and related matters:
UC ANR Location |
Contact Name |
Phone Number and Email Address |
County-based Cooperative Extension Offices |
Emily Melton Casado, BOC-K Emily LaRue, BOC-K |
559-646-6537 559-646-6079 |
Research and Extension Centers |
Debra Driskill, REC AO |
760-356-3061 |
Statewide Programs & |
Sally Harmsworth, BOC-D Zach Watkins, BOC-D |
530-750-1372 530-750-1295 |
UC ANR Oakland |
Sonia Scott, AVP-BO |
510-987-0084 |
Additional information is available at
- UC president announces $15/Hour Minimum Wage
- UC Fair Wage/Fair Work Plan Implementation Guide
- UC Business and Finance Bulletin BUS-43, Materiel Management
Thank you very much for your attention to and compliance with this new University of California policy.
Catherine Montano
Director, Administrative Policies & Business Contracts
View or leave comments for ANR Leadership at http://ucanr.edu/sites/ANRUpdate/Comments.
This announcement is also posted and archived on the ANR Update pages.
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UC begins implementing new hourly minimum wage policy
UC Office of the President recently announced the implementation of a new minimum wage policy for UC employees. All appointment types, 50% or more, are eligible with the exception of Student titles. No UC ANR employees will be affected this fiscal year by the policy, however new vendor contracts will be affected and ANR will need to ensure compliance. The policy is effective on October 1, 2015, and is described below. If you have specific questions regarding the policy or how it will affect the employees in your unit, please contact UC ANR Human Resources.
John Fox
Executive Director, UC ANR Human Resources
jsafox@ucanr.edu
Linda Marie Manton
Executive Director, UC ANR Human Resources Staff Personnel
lmmanton@ucanr.edu
New Hourly Minimum Wage Policy
UC will increase the minimum wage for employees, including contract workers, on Thursday, Oct. 1, the first stage of a three-year plan to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2017.
Under the new UC Fair Wage/Fair Work Plan, all employees hired to work at least 20 hours a week will be paid a minimum of $13 an hour starting Thursday, Oct. 1. That minimum will increase to $14 an hour on Oct. 1, 2016, and to $15 an hour on Oct. 1, 2017.
Contractors and subcontractors working on UC projects will be required to comply with the new policy.
UC is the first university in the country to voluntarily set a $15 minimum wage. The new rate will be higher than California's minimum wage, which is currently $9 an hour and will increase to $10 an hour on Jan. 1, 2016.
President Janet Napolitano announced the UC Fair Wage/Fair Work Plan in July to support employees and their families, and to ensure that workers being paid through a UC contract are likewise fairly compensated.
“Supporting the employees — and their families — who help make UC a leading institution is an important part of our values as a public university,” President Napolitano said.
The new minimum wage is being implemented over three years to give campuses time to plan and budget for the cost increase. The bulk of the cost will be funded by non-core funds, such as sales from self-supporting programs like bookstores and food services. These are separate from tuition and fees, state resources and other core funds that support UC's core instructional programs.
As UC enters into new contracts or renews existing ones, the university will require contractors and subcontractors to pay their employees a wage that meets or exceeds UC's new minimum wage.
In addition, UC will enhance its oversight of contractors and subcontractors for wages and working conditions. This includes creation of a telephone hotline and online reporting system, both now in place, that contract workers can use to report complaints and issues directly to the Office of the President.
It also will include annual and interim audits of contractors to ensure they pay employees UC's minimum wage or better, and that they meet all local, state, federal and UC laws. Annual audits will be funded by the contractors, and implemented as new contracts are established and existing ones are renewed.
Learn more about the UC Fair Wage/Fair Work plan and read frequently asked questions.
View or leave comments for ANR Leadership at http://ucanr.edu/sites/ANRUpdate/Comments.
This announcement is also posted and archived on the ANR Update pages.
Workplace deaths increase for Latinos and Blacks
Overall, more than 4,600 workers were killed on the job in 2011 down from nearly 4,700 fatalities in 2010. Most deaths occurred in construction, transportation and warehouse jobs, according to an analysis by the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (COSH).
The number of workplace deaths among Latinos rose to 729 in 2011 from 707 in 2010. It was the first increase since 2006. About 500 of those deaths were of foreign-born workers, largely from Mexico.
Deaths in construction dropped for the fifth consecutive year to 721 deaths. The number is down nearly 42 percent since 2006.
Warehouse and transportation deaths have increased to 733 deaths, overtaking construction.
Women and low-wage jobs
Women are more likely to work in low-wage jobs and are at a high risk for work-related injuries, illness and death.
Hispanic women accounted for 11 percent of occupational fatalities from 2005-2009, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. More than half were foreign born.
The rate of fatalities for Hispanic men has declined 29 percent since 2006, however, it has remained the same for Hispanic women.
Source: Published originally on ABC News/Univision as Workplace Deaths Increase for Latinos and Blacksby Albert Sabaté, April 30, 2013.