Indiana - Workers’ Rights

Definition of agricultural worker under state law:

• Indiana wage and hour law defines persons engaged in agricultural labor at Ind. Code § 22-2-2-3(m).

Wages and Overtime

Minimum Wage

• Indiana has a state minimum wage law. (Ind. Code § 22-2-2-1 et seq)
• Indiana’s minimum wage is set equal to the federal minimum wage by statute. The federal minimum wage is currently $7.25. 
• Employers can pay employees younger than 20 a wage of at least $4.25 per hour during the first 90 consecutive calendar days of employment. Employers cannot take any action to displace employees, including partial displacements such as a reduction in hours, wages, or employment benefits, for purposes of hiring individuals at the lower wage.
• Agricultural workers are excluded from the state minimum wage because agricultural workers are excluded from the definition of employee. (Ind. Code § 22-2-2-3(m))

Overtime

• Indiana has a state law regarding overtime pay (Ind. Code  § 22-2-2-4(g)). Agricultural workers are excluded from this protection as they are not considered employees.

State Enforcement Agency

Indiana Department of Labor

Website: https://www.in.gov/dol/2343.htm
Relevant Forms: https://www.in.gov/dol/files/WageClaimInstructionsApp092407Corrected.pdf

Occupational Safety and Health

Workers’ Compensation

• Agricultural employers are not required to provide workers’ compensation coverage to their employees, though they may elect to provide it. (Ind. Code  § 22-3-2-9(a)(2))

State Enforcement Agency:
Workers’ Compensation Board of Indiana

Website: https://www.in.gov/wcb/
Relevant Forms: https://www.in.gov/wcb/2339.htm

Field Sanitation

• Indiana has no state law regarding field sanitation. 

Federal Enforcement Agency:
Department of Labor, Indiana OSHA

Website: https://www.in.gov/dol/iosha.htm

Pesticide Safety

• Indiana has a state law regarding pesticide safety in agriculture. (Ind. Code §15-16-4-1 et seq) 
• There is no reporting requirement for suspected pesticide poisoning.

State Enforcement Agency:
Office of the Indiana State Chemist

Website: https://www.oisc.purdue.edu/pesticide/worker_protection_standard.html

Right to Join Unions and Collective Bargaining in Agriculture

• There is no provision (or judicial interpretation of a provision) in the state constitution that grants farmworkers the right to join and organize labor unions free from retaliation or to engage in collective bargaining with their employers.
• Indiana is a ‘right to work’ state.  (Ind. Code § 22-6-6), meaning no person can be compelled to join a union as a condition of employment or be required to pay union dues. No one may prevent another person from forming or belonging to a labor organization.

State Legal Services Organizations

Indiana Legal Services, Migrant Farm Worker Law Center

http://www.indianajustice.org