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FEBRUARY 28, 2013 | WWW.PRODUCER.COM | THE WESTERN PRODUCER
NEWS
BRITISH COLUMBIA | ORGANICS
B.C. case throws apprenticeships in doubt Unpaid labour | Farmers reassess apprenticeship programs after organic producer pays up BY ROBERT ARNASON BRANDON BUREAU
A Vancouver Island organic farmer has learned the hard way that there is no such thing as an unpaid apprentice. A husband and wife, who were apprentices on Evelyn Pereira’s organic farm in the Cowichan Valley north of Victoria, filed a complaint last summer with British Columbia’s labour ministry, saying they had worked at the farm for several
months and were not paid minimum wage. After consulting with labour lawyers and learning that she had little chance of winning the case, Pereira participated in a provincial government mediation process in January. She offered the couple a portion of their outstanding wages and they accepted. “What I have learned is (anyone) in B.C. that takes on anybody to do any kind of work on their farm and does not pay them minimum wage is run-
Every other industry pays for apprentices and I don’t think farming should be any different. MARY FORSTBAUER CERTIFIED ORGANIC ASSOCIATIONS OF B.C.
ning the risk of being taken to Employment Standards,” Pereira said from her farm near Mill Bay, B.C. News of the case spread rapidly through B.C.’s organic farm commu-
nity and may threaten the common practice of taking on apprentices and wwoofers (willing workers on organic farms). Most organic farmers do not pay wwoofers or apprentices an
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hourly wage. “It’s made me reassess my commitment to the wwoofing type of system and possibly moving away from it,” said Arzeena Hamir, who farms near Courtenay, B.C., and is a director of the Certified Organic Associations of B.C. Pereira and her husband, Jesse, were considering selling their farm last spring, when a couple in their late 50s and early 60s expressed interest in buying the farm. However, they first wanted to learn more about organic farming, and Pereira agreed to take them on as apprentices. As part of a verbal agreement, Pereira paid them a stipend of $500 per month each to cover living expenses. The couple also received $25 per week in meat produced on the farm. “It started out really well, partly because on most farms April is slower, so there is lots of time for talking, learning and teaching,” Pereira said. “(But) when the real work time started, they had a hard time adjusting to (the reality) that there wasn’t four hours per day to talk anymore.” Pereira and the couple began to argue over compensation. For instance, Pereira has a two acre patch of blackberries and was planning to hire pickers for the crop. The couple sent her a letter, stating they expected the same rate of pay as the workers hired to pick the berries. “ We s a i d n o. You a re h e re a s apprentices…. So, they were upset about that,” Pereira said. Other disputes flared up, such as sick time compensation and the start of the workday. “Because we run livestock we start at 7 a.m. …. (but) they wouldn’t come out (of their RV) until 9 a.m.” In July, the couple informed Pereira that they were quitting. “I can tell you it was a great relief.” However, Pereira received a letter from the couple three weeks later telling her they had contacted B.C. Employment Standards and notified the government that they worked on the farm but were not paid. They also sent Pereira a provincial government form claiming they had worked 12 hours a day, seven days per week, while at Terra Nossa farm. “He was looking for around $11,000 and she was looking for $8,000,” in back pay, Pereira said. “(But) because they didn’t send it registered mail, I chose to ignore it. Then, three weeks after that, I got a phone call from Employment Standards.” Alarmed, Pereira consulted several labour lawyers, who told her the same thing — she had no case. “In B.C., a definition of an employee is somebody who comes onto your place of business and does the work that an employee would do. Technically, then, these people were doing the work as if I had hired an employee.” Pereira’s case was based on a verbal a g re e m e nt s h e ma d e w i t h t h e apprentices, but she said a written agreement doesn’t provide legal protection for a farmer either. “Employment Standards told me that nobody can sign away their CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
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