Taking on temporary staff during lambing
A few extra pairs of willing hands at lambing are often sought after by sheep units, but do you know what employer’s responsibilities cover? What is the minimum pay? Should you deduct monies for board and lodging? And what responsibility is there for employee’s health and safety?
Employment law can be a minefield, but recent agreements in the areas of agricultural pay and entitlements can help ensure producers tread the right path through this often difficult terrain, says Bob Fiddaman, NFU spokesman on pay.
“There are basic guidelines to follow. Although the minimum wage of £5.35 exists, anyone working with livestock should be paid in accordance to Grade 2 of the most recent Agricultural Wages Order at £5.74/hr and £8.61/hr for overtime.
“Staff, including a large number of students helping out at lambing, with a qualification such as National Diploma – in a related livestock subject – technically should be paid at Grade 3, £6.31/hr and £9.47 overtime. But that usually only applies when they’ve worked for more than six months for the employer,” he says.
Contract
Ideally, all employees should have conditions of employment written in a contract to which both parties sign by way of agreement. “At the least this should cover pay, when to be paid, deductions and hours of work. Remember, employers should get consent from the employee that they are willing to work more than 48 hours a week during busy seasonal periods.”
As a number of lambing jobs require temporary staff to live in, what deductions can be made for accommodation? “This is now much clearer. The maximum deduction for accommodation is £4.15 a day, whether working or not, mirroring legislation laid down for the minimum wage.
“This does not allude to food, power, heat or facilities, which must not be deducted from wages. Instead, agree a charge between the employer and employee – preferably have it written down in the contract – and have the employee pay it separately,” he advises.
Employers must have liability insurance to cover staff. “This should also cover family labour when paid on a regular basis. Other considerations include making sure staff declaring themselves as self-employed are recorded as being just that with HMRC, otherwise the employer may find themself liable for any unpaid income tax,” he warns.
REGULAR TEMPS THE SAFEST OPTION? |
| Although pay may be the immediate consideration when considering temporary help at lambing, health and safety at work should be uppermost during any period of employment. Figures from the Health & Safety Executive suggest that despite just 1.7% of the GB workforce being employed in agriculture, it accounts for 16% of fatal injuries, the highest of any sector. According to an HSE spokesman, more pertinent to the lambing environment are the 20,000 recorded cases of zoonosis infections contracted annually. The impact of often long working hours during lambing can exacerbate the risk of injury. The HSE’s list of zoonoses include E coli 0157, commonly found in animal guts cryptosporidiosis, which can lead to abdominal pain and diarrhoea leptospirosis – including Weil’s disease – causing fever, vomiting and muscle pain orf, seen as ulcers in hand, arm or face salmonella, with similar symptoms to cryptosporidiosis and ringworm. Given the responsibility for managing temporary staff, some producers veer away from inexperienced and/or student labour – a traditional source of staff for some – in favour of regular self-employed stockmen and women. Oxfordshire producer Tony Good, having already wrapped up this year’s lambing for the flock of 1800 ewes, says students just don’t fit some systems. “In a biggish flock situation, like ours, experience pays. We can’t afford to have passengers when lambing 200 prolific ewes a day inexperienced staff just don’t know which way to turn when lambs are coming thick-and-fast. “We have a well-organised system and manage to retain regular self-employed helpers to come back each year with two covering nights and one on days. We split the flock with some starting lambing in late November and another group starting mid-January, so I suppose our system doesn’t lend itself to the student calendar,” he adds. |
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