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January 3, 2012 Forklift "Train-the-Trainer" Classes Growers, packers, and processors are encouraged to participate in this year's Train-the-trainer classes, featuring forklift safety. Classes will be taking place throughout California and will feature some of the best trainers the industry has to offer. If it's been more than 2 years since you have been trained, you need to attend. Please see this flyer for more details. December 27, 2011 New Hire Wage and Hour Notification The Nisei Farmers League has developed a simple document that can be used for both state and federal laws requiring notification of employees regarding terms and conditions of employment. This document must be provided to all new employees starting January 1, 2012. If you are hiring seasonal workers, it should be provided at time of recruitment. It is recommended that employees sign, and employers keep, a copy of document or a sign off sheet reflecting that the employees have received the information. Like all new laws and regulations, agencies will most likely have a keen eye towards making sure employers are in compliance. The new document is located in the Members section of the website. December 27, 2011 AB 650 Earned Income Tax Credit Notification As of January 1, 2008, California employers who are required to provide unemployment insurance must also notify all employees that they may be eligible for the Federal Earned Income Tax Credit within one week (before or after) of the time the employers provides a Form W-2 or Form 1099. A sample notification is available in the Grower Documents portion of the Members section of our website located here. July 14, 2011 Mechanical Grape Harvester Safety Class The first Raisin and Wine Grape Mechanical Harvest Safety Training is set for July 27 from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the C.P.D.E.S. Hall in Easton, located at 172 W. Jefferson Ave., Fresno. Training will be provided in both English and Spanish. Please provide the name of each participant and which session, English or Spanish, they will participate in. The flyer for the event can be found here. Please fax to 559-237-3396 when completed. June 1, 2011 Heat Illness Prevention Classes For employers of outdoor employees, focusing on growers, farm labor contractors, and their supervisors
Thursday, June 16, 2011 The Nisei Farmers League, in conjunction with local and statewide ag organizations and Cal/OSHA, will be hosting Heat Illness Awareness training classes again this spring and summer. The focus of the classes will be the new regulation in place for 2011. As many of you are aware, late last year the Cal/OSHA Standards Board put into writing many of the steps that employers have been implementing over the past few years, including a temperature trigger and distance requirements for shade and water. The training will also address the High Heat provision, which deals with temperatures above 95 degrees (not uncommon here in the Valley). Special attention will also be paid to developing good written procedures, as that is an area where we have been seeing some problems. We hope to see you there. Please email office@niseifarmersleague.com to register.
April 25, 2011 Japan Relief Effort Many farmers, packers, and processors have asked how they can help farmers in Japan who were affected by the devastating earthquake and tsunami. The agriculture industryis partnering with JA-ZenchuAgricultural Co-op in Japan to provide relief to those farmers. Financial support will be sent directly to farmers to help them rebuild their farms and get back to work. Funds will be sent to the Norinchukin Bank in Tokyoand distributed by JA-Zenchu, a well-respected agricultural organization known throughout the international community. Checks can be made payable to: Checks can be sent to: Additionally, some participating agriculture organizations will be collecting donations to forward to JA-Zenchu in Japan. You may inquire with your local agriculture organization to see if they will be forwarding checks to Japan. Any individual or organization may send their contribution to the Nisei Farmers League, 1775 N. Fine Ave., Fresno, CA 93727, and we will be happy to forward your contribution to Tokyo. Please call the Nisei Farmers League office at 559-251-8468 with any questions. We in agriculture would like to thank the Embassy of Japan and Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki in Washington, D.C., for their guidance and support. March 9, 2011 Ag Diesel Truck Registration March 31, 2011 will be the final day to register ag diesel trucks under the California Air Resources Board’s low and limited mileage programs for on-road diesel equipment. If you already registered your trucks last year, please disregard this item. If you have questions, or need help with the registration process, please contact the office.
May 27, 2010 Heat Illness The heat is on once again this summer and employers are reminded to train their employees, provide plenty of water, provide shade, and have written emergency procedures on hand in case of heat illness or inspection. Our sample procedures provide a template for our members to utilize. Please look through the procedures and adapt them for your business operation. Sample procedures can be found here.
March 1, 2010 Truck Rule - Agricultural Truck Reporting Those of you that have been following the newsletter and the progress of the ARB Truck Rule know that March 31, 2010 is the date by which you will have to have agricultural trucks registered. If you haven't been following, you need to get your trucks reported under the agricultural provisions so that you do not fall under the same provisions as long-haul and commercial haulers. Ag Trucks include vehicles like: water trucks, trucks that haul from farm to first processor, and manure spreaders, among others. Here is the web site that you can go to to pull up the forms: www.arb.ca.gov/dieseltruck , when the web site comes up, the fifth button will say “Reporting Forms.” Fill out the information and send into ARB quickly to ensure you qualify under the ag specialty provisions. If you cannot access the forms via the web site, please contact the office. We will have printed copies here and can help walk you through the form.
October 6, 2009 New I-9 Please be advised that there is a new Form I-9 with an expiration date of 8/31/12. The link to this document is found in the Members section of the web site under Grower Documents. July 15, 2009 Green Binder Online Members will be pleased to know that the Agricultural Regulations Manual, or Green Binder, is now available online in the Members section. If you have any questions about how to utilize this manual, please call the office. June 3, 2009 Heat Illness Igloos and Stickers We are pleased to announce the new Igloo Corporation "Heat Illness" water can is available for sale from the retailers listed here. You can see what the Igloos look like by clicking here. We also carry heavy-duty stickers that you can place on your existing water containers and have the same language. The cost of these stickers is $2 and they can be ordered through our office. September 9, 2008 Raisin Tray Burning With harvest season upon us, we feel that it is prudent to remind our growers of the rules regarding the burning of raising trays. Please follow this link to see the Air Pollution Control District's rules. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call us. |