Agricultural labor is exempt under Subsection
35A-4-205(1)(c)
of the Act unless it is covered under Subsection
35A-4-204(2)(j).
Subsection
35A-4-204(2)(j)
covers larger agricultural employers based on wages paid or number of workers
employed.
(1) Definition of
Agricultural Terms.
The terms used in Section
R994-206-101 are defined as
follows:
(a) Agricultural Commodities.
Agricultural commodities include livestock, bees, poultry,
fur-bearing animals, wildlife and all crops such as fruits, nuts, vegetables,
grains and other commodities grown in the soil or other growth mediums for use
or profit.
(b)
Horticultural Commodities.
Horticultural commodities are flowers and nursery products
such as sod, fruit trees, shade trees, Christmas trees, ornamental plants and
shrubs.
(c) Raising and
Harvesting.
Raising includes planting the seeds, watering or irrigating,
applying insecticide or fertilizer and otherwise caring for the commodity prior
to harvesting. In regard to livestock, bees, poultry, fur-bearing animals and
wildlife, raising includes caring for, feeding, shearing, breeding, training
and management. Harvesting includes picking, cutting, threshing, shucking corn,
baling hay, and hulling nuts. Horticultural commodities are harvested when they
are made available for sale.
(d) Farm.
A farm includes stock, dairy, poultry, fruit, fur-bearing
animal, and truck farms, plantations, ranches, nurseries, ranges, orchards, and
such greenhouses and other similar structures as are used primarily for the
raising of agricultural or horticultural commodities. Greenhouses and other
similar structures used primarily for other purposes, such as display, storage,
and fabrication of wreaths, corsages, and bouquets, do not constitute
"farms".
(2)
Agricultural Labor as Defined in Subsection
35A-4-206(1)(a).
(a) Agricultural labor includes services
performed on a
farm by a worker for any person in connection with any of the
following activities:
(i) The cultivation of
the soil;
(ii) The raising,
shearing, feeding, caring for, training, or management of livestock, bees,
poultry, fur-bearing animals, or wildlife; or
(iii) The raising or harvesting of any other
agricultural or horticultural commodity.
(b) Services performed in connection with the
production or harvesting of maple sap, or in connection with the raising or
harvesting of mushrooms, or in connection with the hatching of poultry
constitute agricultural labor only if such services are performed on a farm.
Thus, services performed in connection with the operation of a hatchery, if not
operated as part of a poultry or other farm, do not constitute agricultural
labor.
(3) Agricultural
Labor as Defined in Subsection
35A-4-206(1)(b).
(a) Agricultural labor includes the following
activities performed by a worker in the employ of the owner or tenant or other
operator of one or more farms, provided the major part, defined as 50% or more,
of such services is performed on a
farm:
(i)
Services performed in connection with the operation, management, conservation,
improvement, or maintenance of any of such farms or its tools or equipment;
or
(ii) Services performed in
salvaging timber, or clearing land of brush and other debris, left by a
hurricane, storm, flood, or other natural disaster.
(b) The services described in subparagraph
(a)(i) of this section may include services performed by carpenters, painters,
mechanics, farm supervisors, irrigation engineers, bookkeepers, and other
skilled or semi-skilled workers, which contribute in any way to the conduct of
the farm or farms operated by the person employing them. Since the services
described in this paragraph must be performed in the employ of the owner or
tenant or other operator of the farm, the term "agricultural labor" does not
include services performed by workers of commercial concerns that contract with
a farmer to repair, maintain, or renovate farm properties.
(4) Agricultural Labor as Defined in
Subsection
35A-4-206(1)(c).
Agricultural labor includes the following activities
performed by a worker in the employ of any person without regard to the place
where such services are performed:
(a)
the production or harvesting of
agricultural commodities defined in the Federal
Agricultural Marketing Act,
12
U.S.C.
1141 j. These commodities are limited
to crude gum, also known as oleoresin, from a living tree and gum spirits of
turpentine and gum rosin processed from crude gum by the original producer of
the crude gum; or
(b) the ginning
of cotton; or
(c) the operation or
maintenance of ditches, canals, reservoirs or water ways if not owned or
operated for profit and used primarily for farming purposes.
(5) Agricultural Labor as defined
in Section
35A-4-206(1)(d).
(a) Agricultural labor includes services
performed by a worker in the handling, planting, drying, packing, packaging,
processing, freezing, grading, storing, or delivering to storage or to market
or to a carrier for transportation to market, of any agricultural or
horticultural
commodity if:
(i) Such services
are performed by the worker in the employ of an operator of a farm or in the
employ of a group of operators of farms ,other than a cooperative organization;
and
(ii) Such services are
performed with respect to the commodity in its unmanufactured state;
and
(iii) Such operator produced
more than one-half of the commodity with respect to which such services are
performed during the pay period, or such group of operators produced all of the
commodity with respect to which such services are performed during the pay
period.
(b) The term
"operator of a farm" as used in this section means an owner, tenant, or other
person, in possession of a farm and engaged in the operation of such
farm.
(c) The services described in
this paragraph do not constitute
agricultural labor if performed in the employ
of a cooperative
organization. The term "
organization" includes corporations,
joint-stock companies, and associations which are treated as corporations
pursuant to section
7701(a)(3) of the Internal
Revenue Code. For purposes of this paragraph, any unincorporated group of
operators shall be deemed a cooperative
organization if the number of operators
comprising such group is more than 20 at any time during the calendar quarter
in which the services involved are performed.
(d) Processing services which change the
commodity from its raw or natural state do not constitute agricultural labor.
For example, the extraction of juices from fruits or vegetables is a processing
operation which changes the character of the fruits or vegetables from their
raw or natural state and, therefore, does not constitute agricultural labor.
Likewise, services performed in the processing of maple sap into maple syrup or
maple sugar do not constitute agricultural labor. On the other hand, services
rendered in the cutting and drying of fruits or vegetables are processing
operations which do not change the character of the fruits or vegetables and,
therefore, constitute agricultural labor, if the other requisite conditions are
met. Services performed with respect to a commodity after its character has
been changed from its raw or natural state by a processing operation do not
constitute agricultural labor.
(e)
The term "commodity" refers to a single agricultural or horticultural product,
for example, all apples are to be treated as a single commodity, while apples
and peaches are to be treated as two separate commodities. The services with
respect to each such commodity are to be considered separately in determining
whether the condition set forth in subparagraph (a)(iii) of this subsection has
been satisfied. The portion of the commodity produced by an operator or group
of operators with respect to which the services described in this paragraph are
performed by a particular worker shall be determined on the basis of the pay
period in which such services were performed by such worker.
(f) The services described in this paragraph
do not include services performed in connection with commercial canning or
commercial freezing or in connection with any commodity after its delivery to a
terminal market for distribution for consumption. Moreover, since the services
described in this paragraph must be rendered in the actual handling, planting,
drying, packing, packaging, processing, freezing, grading, storing, or
delivering to storage or to market or to a carrier for transportation to market
of the commodity, such services do not, for example, include services performed
as stenographers, bookkeepers, clerks, and other office employees, even though
such services may be in connection with such activities. However, to the extent
that the services of such individuals are performed in the employ of the owner
or tenant or other operator of a farm and are rendered in major part on a farm,
they may be within the provisions of paragraph (3) of this section.
(6) Examples of the Application of
the Definition of
Agricultural Labor.
(a)
Raising and Selling.
Services in connection with raising agricultural or
horticultural commodities are agricultural labor. However, if this business
also sells the commodity, the selling activity is not agricultural labor unless
performed on the farm.
(b)
Agricultural Labor Included and Excluded Services.
If the same worker performs both agricultural and
nonagricultural labor, the entire service will be considered to be agricultural
labor if 50% or more of the time in a pay period was spent in agricultural
labor. For reference see Subsection
35A-4-205(2).
(c) Poultry Hatchery.
Poultry hatchery services are agricultural labor provided
they are performed on the farm or in the employ of a farm operator or group of
operators who produced more than one-half the eggs. Services for a commercial
hatchery that is not part of a farm that raises poultry are not agricultural
labor.
(d) Raising
Livestock.
Raising livestock and related activities performed on a farm
are agricultural labor. Services in connection with livestock held, cared for
and fed in a feed lot over an extended period of time to make an appreciable
weight increase are agricultural labor. However, operating a stable or stud
farm where no animals are raised is not agricultural labor. Services in
connection with racing horses, using livestock in rodeos, exhibiting livestock
and training livestock for these purposes are not agricultural labor when not
performed on the farm where the animals were raised.
(e) Forestry, Lumbering and Landscaping.
Services performed in forestry, lumbering and landscaping are
not agricultural labor.
(f)
Brine Shrimp Harvesting.
Services performed in harvesting brine shrimp are not
agricultural labor unless the services are performed on a
farm.
