4 Tex. Admin. Code § 8.4 - Covered Employer
(a) An employer is
a "covered employer " if the employer annually uses or stores in excess of the
threshold amount of any one covered pesticide chemical , and either directly, or
through labor agents:
(1) hires agricultural
laborers to perform seasonal or migrant work and whose gross annual payroll for
those laborers is $15,000 or more; or
(2) hires agricultural laborers for purposes
other than seasonal or migrant work and whose gross annual payroll for those
laborers is $50,000 or more.
(b) An employer is a covered employer if the
employer meets the minimum payroll requirements described in subsection (a)(1)
or (2) of this section and causes agricultural laborers to be present in a
workplace(s) where the threshold amount of any one covered pesticide chemical
is annually used or stored. An example of such an employer may be a packing
shed or other entity which makes an agreement with a farmer to furnish
agricultural laborers to produce a crop being produced at the farmer's farm. In
such instances, the packing shed and the farmer would have the following
responsibilities under the Act :
(1) If the
packing shed meets the minimum payroll requirement and covered pesticides in
excess of the threshold amount are used or stored in the workplace(s) where the
packing shed's agricultural laborers are present, the packing shed is
responsible for complying with the requirements of these regulations for all of
its employees that meet the definition of "agricultural laborer."
(2) The packing shed's responsibilities
extend only to the agricultural laborers furnished by the packing shed and only
to the work area (s) where these laborers are present.
(3) If the packing shed causes agricultural
laborers to be present at more than one farm or work area , the covered
chemicals used or stored at all such work areas will be totaled to determine
whether more than the threshold amount is stored or used.
(4) The packing shed is free to secure the
assistance of others in performing particular responsibilities. For instance,
it may use crew leaders or foremen to read the crop sheets and it may arrange
for farmers to help compile the workplace chemical lists. However,
responsibility for compliance rests solely with the packing shed.
(5) The farmer in this example has no
responsibility under the Act with respect to the packing shed's agricultural
laborers.
(6) The farmer is
responsible for complying with the Act only if the farmer standing alone is a
covered employer. In other words, the packing shed's agricultural laborers are
not counted in determining whether the farmer meets the minimum payroll test
for coverage.
(7) Even where the
farmer is a covered employer , the farmer's only responsibility under the Act is
with respect to those agricultural laborers whom the farmer has hired directly
or through a labor agent.
(8) The
coverage and responsibility described in this example is the same for other
entities which furnish agricultural laborers to perform work on a farmer's
farm, including seed producers who furnish laborers to rogue or detassel a seed
crop, canneries or processors who furnish field laborers, and gins who furnish
hoeing or weeding laborers.
(c) Hiring "through labor agents" includes an
employer who contracts with or utilizes a crew leader or labor contractor to
provide harvesters or other agricultural laborers.
(d) Amounts paid by an employer to a labor
agent, crew leader, or labor contractor are considered part of the employer 's
gross annual payroll for purposes of subsection (a) of this section.
(e) Where an employer uses or stores any
covered pesticide chemicals in more than one work area or workplace, the total
amount used in all such work areas and workplaces shall be counted to determine
whether he or she annually uses in excess of the threshold amount.
(f) An employer who purchases in excess of
the threshold amount of a covered pesticide chemical at one time or within a
period of one calendar year is presumed to have used or stored in excess of the
threshold amount of a covered pesticide chemical .
Notes
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