A new law requires employers to give a 60-day notice when laying off workers to help with their transition.
Jon DeVaney, president of the Washington State Tree Fruit Association, says it’s referred to as the Mini-Warn Act, intended for full-time, permanent workers.
“There was a bill that our legislature passed to do that at the state level and provide 60 days’ warning of a closure unless it’s for really a disaster, kind of, unforeseen circumstances.”
Which makes sense for some people.
“What they did not do is exclude seasonal-natured work like agriculture. And so, there is the possibility, and we think it should be interpreted that way, that the seasonal and weather-related nature of harvest should exempt a lot of our farms from having to provide notices that really aren’t necessary.”
DeVaney says that’s not really a secret.
“The idea of a ‘Warn Notice’ is to let workers who thought their employment was permanent know that a layoff is coming. But it’s not news to farmworkers that work ends at the end of harvest.”
DeVaney says packers and growers have been advised to fill out the layoff notices, until we hear otherwise.
“We don’t have that clarification yet, but it has raised some eyebrows because those notices are public, and as people hear about ‘Mass Layoffs’ in our industry, but of course, it is just the usual end-of-season expectations.”