NORTH DAKOTA - Workers’ Rights

Definition of agricultural worker under state law:

• Under the state Minimum Wage and Work Conditions Orders, “‘[a]gricultural employment’ means employment on a farm, for 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 carriers for transportation to market.” (N.D. ADMIN. CODE 46-02-07-01)

Wages and Overtime

Minimum Wage

• There is a state minimum wage law. (N.D. Cent. Code § 34-06-22)
• Current minimum wage is $7.25/hr. 
• A number of occupations are exempt from the minimum wage. (N.D. ADMIN. CODE 46-02-07-02)
• Agricultural workers are covered by the state minimum wage.

Overtime

• There is a state law regarding overtime pay which adopts the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). (N.D. Cent. Code § 34-06-04.1)
• Agricultural workers are excluded from the state overtime law. (N.D. Cent. Code § 34-06-04.1; N.D. Admin. Code 46-02-07-02(4))

State Enforcement Agency

North Dakota Department of Labor and Human Rights

Website: https://www.nd.gov/labor/submit-wage-claim
Relevant Forms: https://www.nd.gov/eforms/Doc/sfn17081.pdf

Occupational Safety and Health

Workers’ Compensation

• Agricultural workers are excluded from the state workers’ compensation law. (N.D. Cent. Code, § 65-01-02) Employers may choose to provide coverage.
• The Supreme Court of North Dakota has held that the exclusion of farmworkers from the state’s workers’ compensation law is not a constitutional violation. Haney v. N.D. Workers Comp. Bureau, 518 N.W.2d 195 (N.D. 1994). 

State Enforcement Agency:
North Dakota Workforce Safety & Insurance

Website: https://www.workforcesafety.com/
Relevant Forms: https://www.workforcesafety.com/workers/forms

Field Sanitation

• There is no state law regarding field sanitation.

Federal Enforcement Agency:
US DOL, North Dakota OSHA Office

Website: https://www.osha.gov/contactus/bystate/ND/areaoffice

Pesticide Safety

• North Dakota has pesticide laws for agriculture, but no provisions for pesticide poisoning. (N.D. Cent. Code, §§ 4.1-33-01 – 4.1-36-04; N.D. Admin. Code 33.1-15-10-01, 33.1-15-10-02, 33.1-24-03-40)
• Suspected pesticide poisoning is not a reportable illness for health care providers.

State Enforcement Agency:
North Dakota Department of Agriculture, Pesticide and Fertilizer Division

Website: https://www.nd.gov/ndda/pesticide-fertilizer-division 

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.
• North Dakota is a “right-to-work” state. (N.D. CENT. CODE § 34-01-14)
• There is no state statute that grants agricultural workers the right to join and organize labor unions free from retaliation or to engage in collective bargaining with agricultural employers.
• “Employees” are provided “the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other lawful concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection[.]” (N.D. CENT. CODE § 34-12-02)
• Individuals employed in “agricultural labor” are exempt from the definition of “employee” and protections of the Labor-Management Relations Act. (N.D. CENT. CODE § 34-12-01)

State Legal Services Organizations

Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services – Agricultural Worker Project (covers ND as well) 
http://www.smrls.org