JASON RESNICK | WG VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL AGRICULTURE & THE LAW
COVID-19 Presents Challenges for H-2A Employers During this global pandemic, it is often said “the virus doesn’t care…” The virus doesn’t care who you are. The virus doesn’t care where you’re from. The virus doesn’t care if you are a Republican or a Democrat. The virus doesn’t care if you are rich or poor.
If you rely on H-2A employees, the virus doesn’t care that it’s delaying your effort to secure visa interviews for your returning workers. The virus doesn’t care if you can’t completely manage social distancing in your employee housing. With each passing month, we learn more about this virus. We now know the virus spreads most commonly through the air from person to person. People shed the virus by coughing and sneezing and talking and laughing. The virus lingers and spreads more in indoor spaces than outdoor spaces. Large groups are riskier than small groups. A person can be infected for several days before showing any symptoms of COVID-19. That makes this virus particularly crafty—it spreads among people who feel and appear healthy. And the virus can land on surfaces where it can live for days before being picked up and spread to others. So when a group of apparently healthy workers are sitting, talking, and laughing for hours on a bus from their homes to their new H-2A employer, or socializing in group housing after a long day’s work, some workers will potentially be exposed to this virus. Fortunately, farmworkers in Western Growers’ states are faring relatively well so far. That’s not the case everywhere. More than 50 percent of farmworkers in Florida’s largest agricultural communities are testing positive, according to Politico. I have spoken to members who have had dozens of their employees test positive for COVID-19. Most are asymptomatic or just have a cough. Most members have not yet had an employee required to be hospitalized. That’s good news; the majority of young and healthy people who are exposed experience no or only minor symptoms. But that doesn’t mean we should let our guard down. Far from it. There have been more than two million confirmed cases and nearly 120,000 deaths in the U.S. at this writing, with credible models projecting the U.S. death toll will increase by 57,000 to 100,000 in the month of September. Employers have a duty to understand the risks posed by—
and to—newly introduced seasonal workers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), employers need to re-emphasize safety measures that can slow the spread of the virus, including washing hands, maintaining a physical distance of at least six feet from others, and wearing a facemask. Employers should also monitor the health of all workers daily, and isolate workers who have symptoms consistent with COVID-19, such as a fever over 100.3˚F, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, among others. It’s also critical that all employees are trained on recognizing the symptoms and preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus, including regular and effective handwashing. Employers should be stepping up cleaning and disinfecting all surfaces in employer-provided housing, transportation, common areas and restrooms. Finally, employees who test positive or show symptoms of COVID-19 should be quarantined or self-isolating, according to CDC. H-2A employers should consider locating alternative H-2A housing to quarantine exposed or recovering workers. The Grower-Shipper Association of Central California has assisted members in Monterey County by securing “wrap-around” housing for participating H-2A employers to quarantine or isolate their COVID-19 exposed workers. Western Growers, United Fresh and the American Frozen Food Institute have teamed up to develop COVID-19 guidance for produce operations. This guidance document provides useful advice and recommendations to help farm owners and operators prepare for seasonal operations including onboarding of seasonal workers, field and facility procedures, and shared/ communal housing and transportation to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In addition, the CDC, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and Cal/OSHA have released guidance documents to protect agriculture workers from COVID-19. These guidance documents can be found on theWG COVID-19 Resources page of our website.
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JULY | AUGUST 2020
Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com
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