Retention of Seasonal Workers
There is real benefit in getting experienced staff to come back to your farm year after year. But, this is a competitive business. You must think of ways you can be more attractive to seasonal workers to encourage them to favour your farm in busy periods when work is ample.
Accommodation and facilities
transport
Building Career Paths
Workers will keep each other informed about sub-standard facilities, creating recruitment problems for those farms or regions which fail to meet basic standards.
In communities where accommodation is a problem, farmers, councils and community members have to work together to address the problem. Examples include country pubs re-opening rooms as low cost accommodation and private enterprises providing inexpensive farm labour accommodation in backpacker hostels or caravan parks.
Ensure information about accommodation is available to seasonal workers. In any information given to labour agencies or in job advertisements, make sure you indicate the types of accommodation available and how the workers can secure it.
To assist farmers to attract and retain casual workers (and to encourage working holiday makers to consider Australia as an attractive place to work), all accommodation needs to meet reasonable standards. This needs to be discussed in the community. Farmers also need to provide reasonable on-site facilities such as wash rooms and eating areas.
The limited availability and the cost of transport to rural areas can deter job seekers from taking up seasonal work.
Some large employers hire bus companies to collect workers from pick-up points in nearby towns. Other farmers purchase their own buses and hire their own drivers. In some areas, contractors hire buses to deliver workers to designated farms. Some backpacker hostels or caravan parks provide transport as part of their service, and build the cost into the accommodation. In the latter case, difficulties can arise when non-guests ask for transport, as hostel owners cannot carry passengers for money unless they undertake special training and obtain a special licence.
Groups of farmers may be able to work together to overcome some of these problems, sharing costs or resources to jointly provide some transport for seasonal workers. They may be able to work with local community groups to consider ways of developing transport options which can be used by farmers in the busy season and the community at other times in the year.
Many young and unemployed people reject seasonal farm work as they think it does not offer career opportunities. Farmers need to be more proactive in outlining the benefits of seasonal work, especially when trying to attract workers to their farm. Seasonal work offers:
- An opportunity to experience a range of different farm activities
- A chance to travel around the country on a paid holiday
- A chance to get fit and be outdoors while working
- The chance to develop and refine agricultural skills and
- The opportunity to use the experience as a springboard into a rural career.
Farmers are generally looking for reliable workers with a high sense of responsibility. Such workers can be given more responsible and varied jobs throughout the year which can lead to supervisory positions and, from there, into management. Building teams of workers, headed by an experienced worker, can improve productivity, encourage skill transfer and reduce workplace injury through greater supervision.
You may not be able to offer many opportunities as an individual farmer, but farmers may be able to work together to provide longer periods of work, a wider range of opportunities and better conditions which will attract good workers, and provide them with an incentive to keep their skills in the region.
