[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 29, Volume 3]

[Revised as of July 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 29CFR500.70]



[Page 26-28]

 

                             TITLE 29--LABOR

 

         CHAPTER V--WAGE AND HOUR DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

 

PART 500_MIGRANT AND SEASONAL AGRICULTURAL WORKER PROTECTION--Table of 

Contents

 

                      Subpart C_Worker Protections

 

Sec.  500.70  Scope of worker protections.



                                 General





    (a) General. The Act provides protections for migrant and seasonal 

agricultural workers irrespective of whether



[[Page 27]]



they are employed by a farm labor contractor, an agricultural employer 

or an agricultural association, or, in the case where there is joint 

responsibility, by more than one of these persons. The Act's provisions 

include standards relating to vehicle safety, housing safety and health, 

disclosure of wages, hours and other conditions of employment, and 

recordkeeping. When any person not otherwise exempt from the Act 

recruits, solicits, hires, employs, furnishes or transports workers, 

that person is required to comply with the applicable protective 

provisions of the Act. In addition, any person not specifically exempt 

from coverage of the Act (irrespective of whether that person is an 

agricultural employer, an agricultural association or farm labor 

contractor) who owns or controls a facility or real property which is 

used as housing for any migrant agricultural workers must ensure that 

the facility or real property complies with all substantive Federal and 

State safety and health standards made applicable to that type of 

housing. (See Sec.  500.132)

    (b) Wage related protections. Joint employment under the Fair Labor 

Standards Act, which establishes responsibility for the maintenance of 

payroll records, payment of wages and posting of notices under that law, 

is joint employment under MSPA for establishing responsibility for the 

maintenance of records, payment of wages and the posting of required 

posters under MSPA. In such joint employment situations the 

responsibility for assuring these MSPA protections may be carried out by 

one of the joint employers. While under a joint employment relationship 

all joint employers are equally responsible for assuring that the 

appropriate protections are provided, the creation of such a joint 

employment relationship does not also require unnecessary duplication of 

effort as, for example, in relation to the posting of posters (see 

Sec. Sec.  500.75(e) and 500.76(e)) or the provision of an itemized 

written statement of the worker's pay (see Sec.  500.80(d)). Failure to 

provide protections coming within the joint employment relationship, 

however, will result in all joint employers being responsible for that 

failure.

    (c) Transportation related protections. Responsibility for 

compliance with the motor vehicle safety and insurance provisions of 

section 401 of the Act and Sec. Sec.  500.100 through 500.128 of these 

regulations is imposed upon the person or persons using or causing to be 

used, any vehicle for transportation of migrant or seasonal agricultural 

workers. As stated in these regulations, the transportation safety 

provisions do not include certain car pooling arrangements. 

Additionally, these regulations do not impose responsibility on an 

agricultural employer or agricultural association for a farm labor 

contractor's failure to adhere to the safety provisions provided in 

these regulations when the farm labor contractor is providing the 

vehicles and directing their use. However, when an agricultural employer 

or agricultural association specifically directs or requests a farm 

labor contractor to use the contractor's vehicle to carry out a task for 

the agricultural employer or agricultural association, such direction 

constitutes causing the vehicle to be used and the agricultural employer 

or agricultural association is jointly responsible with the farm labor 

contractor for assuring that the vehicle meets the insurance, and safety 

and health provisions of these regulations. In all cases a person using 

a farm labor contractor is required to take reasonable steps to 

determine that the vehicle used by the farm labor contractor is 

authorized to be used for transportation as prescribed in section 402 of 

the Act and Sec.  500.71 of these regulations.

    (d) Housing related protections. Responsibility for compliance with 

the housing safety and health provisions of section 203 of the Act and 

Sec. Sec.  500.130 through 500.135 of these regulations is imposed upon 

the person (or persons) who owns or controls a facility or real property 

used as housing for migrant agricultural workers. Any agricultural 

employer or agricultural association which has a farm labor contractor 

operate housing which it owns or controls is responsible, as well as the 

farm labor contractor, for insuring compliance with the housing safety 

and health provisions of these regulations. When the owner or operator 

of the housing is not an agricultural employer, agricultural



[[Page 28]]



association or farm labor contractor, the owner is responsible for that 

housing meeting the safety and health provisions under the Act and these 

regulations. This is subject to the exclusion stated in Sec.  500.131 of 

these regulations which provides that the housing safety and health 

requirements do not apply to any person who, in the ordinary course of 

that person's business, regularly provides housing on a commercial basis 

to the general public and who provides housing to any migrant 

agricultural worker of the same character and on the same or comparable 

terms and conditions as provided to the general public.