COVID-19 health and safety practices for farmworkers

CLASSIFICATION
   EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION                 OWI
                                                          CORRESPONDENCE SYMBOL
               ADVISORY SYSTEM
          U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR                        DNPTTA-MSFW
             Washington, D.C. 20210                       DATE
                                                          November 12, 2020

ADVISORY:        TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT GUIDANCE LETTER NO. 5-20

TO:              STATE WORKFORCE AGENCIES
                 STATE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES
                 STATE WORKFORCE ADMINISTRATORS
                 STATE MONITOR ADVOCATES
                 NATIONAL FARMWORKER JOBS PROGRAM GRANTEES

FROM:            JOHN PALLASCH
                 Assistant Secretary

SUBJECT:         Health and Safety Practices for Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers and
                 Agricultural Employers during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic

1. Purpose. In response to the spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), this guidance
   requests State Workforce Agencies (SWA), in coordination with the National Farmworker
   Jobs Program (NFJP) grantees, take certain actions and provide information regarding
   measures to support health and safety for migrant and seasonal farmworkers (MSFW) and
   agricultural employers.

2. Action Requested. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training
   Administration (ETA) requests NFJP grantees share Center for Disease Control and
   Prevention (CDC) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) COVID-19-
   related guidance with farmworkers in NFJP grantee programs and where possible, use grant
   funds to assist farmworkers who need access to safe and sanitary housing (see section 4
   below for more information).

   Additionally, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, ETA strongly recommends that
   SWAs:

       Provide information on minimizing exposure and the spread of COVID-19, including
        CDC and OSHA guidance (such as the information provided in the resources section
        listed below), to MSFWs, including U.S. job seekers referred through the Agricultural
        Recruitment System for U.S. Workers (ARS), as described in 20 CFR 653.501, and
        foreign workers temporarily employed as farmworkers in the United States through the
        H-2A program;
       Share CDC and OSHA COVID-19-related guidance with agricultural employers and
        encourage them to follow the safety and health guidance on practices to safeguard against

 RESCISSIONS                                              EXPIRATION DATE
 None                                                     Continuing

      exposure to COVID-19 (again, such as the information provided in the resources section
      listed below); and
     Coordinate with NFJP grantees and other federal, state, and local healthcare
      professionals, including but not limited to public health personnel, when developing
      health and safety solutions to protect MSFWs, including safe and sanitary housing.

3. Summary and Background.

  a. Summary – The COVID-19 pandemic poses a serious safety and health risk to
  farmworkers who often work, live, and are transported in close proximity to each other.
  Widespread illness among farmworkers could significantly impact the nation’s food supply.
  The CDC and OSHA have issued guidelines for safe workplaces during the COVID-19
  pandemic.

  As part of employers’ responsibilities for farmworker safety and health under the Wagner-
  Peyser Employment Service, ETA requires that SWAs maintain the required functions of
  their State Monitor Advocates (SMA) and outreach staff. Specifically, ETA requires SWAs
  maintain SMAs in their positions and meet the requirements in 20 CFR 653.108(d).
  Significant MSFW States must maintain their full-time, year-round outreach staff to conduct
  outreach duties as described in 20 CFR 653.107(b). Non-significant MSFW states may allow
  outreach staff to conduct other activities that promote farmworker safety, including housing
  inspections, when they are not in peak harvest season. The Monitor Advocate System
  ensures MSFWs’ access to resources and protections is equal to that provided to non-
  MSFWs. The SMA and outreach staff play important roles in ensuring agricultural
  employers have access to farmworkers and that workers can safely and expeditiously access
  agricultural jobs. This is a critical time to ensure labor exchange services such as the ARS
  are available to U.S. job seekers and agricultural employers to maintain our nation’s food
  supply. If outreach staff in non-significant MSFW states have additional time available after
  fulfilling their required outreach responsibilities, states may leverage these staff members to
  help support other critical functions, such as Unemployment Insurance.

  b. Background – Agriculture as critical infrastructure. The Department of Homeland
  Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has designated farmers
  and farmworkers “Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers” (see
  https://www.cisa.gov/publication/guidance-essential-critical-infrastructure-workforce).
  CISA advises that promoting the ability of such workers to continue to work during periods
  of community restriction, access management, social distancing, or closure orders/directives
  is crucial to community resilience and continuity of essential functions.

  Safety guidance for agricultural workers. OSHA, in collaboration with CDC, published
  Interim Guidance for Agriculture Workers and Employers (see
  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/guidance-agricultural-
  workers.html). Additionally, the CDC published Interim Guidance for Businesses and
  Employers Responding to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) (see
  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/guidance-business-response.html).

    Definition of farmworker. The Department notes that a farmworker, as defined at 20 CFR
    651.10, means an individual employed in farmwork and includes foreign workers in the
    United States on H-2A visas.
    Agricultural Recruitment System for U.S. Workers (ARS). SWAs must provide information
    on working conditions to U.S. job seekers referred through ARS (see 20 CFR
    653.501(d)(10)). The ARS helps agricultural employers recruit qualified U.S. workers on a
    temporary or seasonal basis, and provides workers seeking temporary agricultural
    employment with opportunities for such employment (see 20 CFR 653 Subpart F). Through
    the ARS, SWAs may recruit and refer qualified U.S. workers from within a state and from
    other states when they anticipate that there are fewer temporary agricultural workers
    available than needed in the local area. The regulations at 20 CFR 653.501(c)(1)(iv) require
    that SWAs ensure intrastate and interstate clearance orders1 state all the material terms and
    conditions of the employment. Further, 653.501(c)(3)(iii) requires that SWAs ensure the
    clearance order includes an assurance that the working conditions comply with applicable
    federal and state minimum health and safety laws, among others.

    SMA-NFJP Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). To foster collaboration between the
    SMA and the NFJP grantee in each state, Wagner-Peyser Act regulations at 20 CFR
    653.108(l) require the SMA to establish an MOU with the NFJP grantee. These MOUs allow
    SMAs and NFJP grantees to work together, share resources, and support farmworkers’ safe
    employment and training.

4. Details.

    NFJP Actions to Improve Farmworker Health and Safety. CDC and OSHA guidelines
    help to prevent and manage workplace COVID-19 exposures; thus, recommended measures
    are more stringent than current regulatory standards. For instance, the CDC recommends
    maintaining a distance of six feet between workers, and OSHA and CDC guidance
    recommends farmworkers in the same shared housing unit should follow the Households
    Living in Close Quarters Guidance, which recommends maintaining a minimum of six feet of
    distance between beds if possible (see https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-
    coping/living-in-close-quarters.html). However, most farmworker housing that meets OSHA
    and ETA standards do not comply with CDC spacing guidelines. NFJP Housing grantees and
    Career Services and Training grantees may have some ability to support MSFWs who need
    housing services, depending on the statement of work, grant budget, and other specific
    circumstances for a given grantee. Specifically:

             NFJP Housing Grantees: The Department allocates funds for Housing Grants for
              permanent housing services and temporary housing services. As specified in the
              NFJP appropriation (P.L. 116-94), ETA must award at least 70 percent of Housing
              Grant funds for permanent housing. While housing grantees need to uphold the 70
              percent permanent housing requirement, grantees may use remaining grant funds to

1
 Clearance order means a job order that is processed through the clearance system under the Agricultural
Recruitment System (ARS). 20 CFR 651.10.

       support temporary housing for eligible MSFWs. Housing grantees must continue to
       follow 20 CFR Part 685 and program requirements as described in Training and
       Employment Guidance Letter (TEGL) 18-16.
      NFJP Career Services and Training (CST) grantees: Pursuant to 20 CFR 685.360(b),
       CST grantees may provide housing services to eligible MSFWs as described in their
       program plan. Additionally, CST grantees may provide emergency assistance,
       including temporary housing services, to MSFWs. Under certain circumstances, NFJP
       grantees may provide emergency assistance to H-2A workers to address an immediate
       and short-term need. CST grantees must continue to follow program requirements as
       described in 20 CFR Part 685 and TEGL 18-16.
      The NFJP Grants Directory is available at
       https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/agriculture/grants.
      The Department notes that NFJP grantees can partner with SWAs to provide
       coordinated services to employers as SWAs help agricultural employers consider how
       to safely house farmworkers, potentially in additional spaces beyond their existing
       housing facilities.

Resources. SWAs and NFJP grantees may provide a combination of local, regional, state,
and federal resources to stakeholders. The following are some federal resources (including
resources in Spanish) that may be taken into consideration:

      Interim Guidance for Agriculture Workers and Employers
       (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/guidance-agricultural-
       workers.html );
      Interim Guidance for Businesses and Employers Responding to Coronavirus Disease
       2019 (COVID-19) (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-
       ncov/community/guidance-business-response.html);
      How to Protect Yourself and Others, which includes some resources in Spanish
       (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html).
      Social media toolkit in Spanish (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-
       ncov/communication/social-media-toolkit-es.html);
      Implementing Safety Practices for Critical Infrastructure Workers Who May Have
       Had Exposure to a Person with Suspected or Confirmed COVID-19
       (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/critical-
       workers/implementing-safety-practices.html);
      US Department of Labor COVID-19 related resources
       (https://www.dol.gov/coronavirus);
      Ten Steps All Workplaces Can Take to Reduce Risk of Exposure to Coronavirus
       (English) (https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3994.pdf);
      Ten Steps All Workplaces Can Take to Reduce Risk of Exposure to Coronavirus
       (Spanish) (https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3995.pdf).
      Households Living in Close Quarters Guidance
       (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/living-in-close-
       quarters.html);

          Health Resources and Services Administration Data Warehouse to Identify the Health
           Center Nearest You (https://findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov/); and
          WorkforceGPS Employment and Training Administration Resource List for
           agricultural employers and MSFWs
           (https://farmworker.workforcegps.org/resources/2019/09/26/18/04/MSFW_Special_T
           opics).

5. Inquiries. SWAs may direct any questions to the appropriate Regional Monitor Advocate,
   listed at: https://doleta.gov/mas/contact/. NFJP grantees may reach out to the SMA in their
   area regarding collaborating on housing assistance. The SMA directory is located at:
   https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/mas/pdfs/Monitor-Advocate-National-
   Directory.pdf. NFJP grantees may reach out to their Federal Project Officer (FPO) for all
   other questions. The NFJP FPO directory is located at:
   https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/Farmworker/pdfs/NFJP_directory.pdf.

6. References.

          20 CFR 653 Subpart B—Services for Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers;
          20 CFR 653 Subpart F—Agricultural Recruitment System for U.S. Workers (ARS);
          20 CFR 685 National Farmworker Jobs Program Under Title I of The Workforce
           Innovation and Opportunity Act;
          TEGL 18-16 “Program Eligibility and Enrollment Guidance for the National
           Farmworker Jobs Program”
           (https://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/corr_doc.cfm?DOCN=3435); and
          CISA Guidance on the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce
           (https://www.cisa.gov/publication/guidance-essential-critical-infrastructure-
           workforce)

7. Attachment(s). Not Applicable.