Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): 29 USC Ch. 8: Fair Labor Standards Act
The agricultural provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act are enforced by the United States Department of Labor. "Agriculture" includes farming in all its branches and among other things includes the cultivation and tillage of the soil, dairying, the production, cultivation, growing, and harvesting of any agricultural or horticultural commodities, the raising of livestock, bees, fur-bearing animals, or poultry, and any practices (including any forestry or lumbering operations) performed by a farmer or on a farm as an incident to or in conjunction with such farming operations, including preparation for market, delivery to storage or to market or to carriers for transportation to market.
Virtually all employees engaged in agriculture are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act in that they produce goods for interstate commerce. There are, however, some exemptions which exempt certain employees from the minimum wage provisions, the overtime pay provisions, or both.
The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, along with our partner organizations in Vermont, have produced a printable document that addresses many of the issues farm employees face:
Vermont Farm Employee Fact Sheet - English
Vermont Farm Employee Fact Sheet - Spanish
