VERMONT - Workers’ Rights

Definition of agricultural worker under state law:

Under Vermont wage law, “employee” does not include any individual employed in agriculture (Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 21, § 383(2)(a)).

Wages and Overtime

Minimum Wage

• There is a state minimum wage law. (Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 21, § 384)
• Effective Jan. 1, 2023, through Dec. 31, 2023, the state’s hourly minimum wage will be $13.18.
• Starting in 2023, the minimum wage will increase annually by 5% or by the percentage increase in the consumer price index, whichever is smaller.
• The federal minimum wage will be the applicable minimum wage in Vermont if it is higher than the state minimum wage.
• Agricultural workers are excluded from the state minimum wage. VT. STAT. ANN. tit. 21 383(2)(A)

Overtime

• There is a state law regarding overtime. (Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 21, § 384(b))
• Agricultural workers are excluded from the state overtime law.

State Enforcement Agency

Vermont Department of Labor, Wage, & Hour Program

Website: https://labor.vermont.gov/wage-and-hour

Relevant Forms: https://labor.vermont.gov/form/online-wage-claim-form

Occupational Safety and Health

Workers’ Compensation

• Agricultural workers are covered by the state workers’ compensation law, but with some exceptions. (VT. STAT. ANN. tit. 21, § 616)
• Employers whose aggregate payroll is less than $10,000 in a calendar year are exempt, but the employer may opt to be subjected to the provisions of workers’ compensation law. (Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 21, § 601(14)(C))
• Agricultural employers are exempt from certain reporting and registration requirements of the workers’ compensation statute. (VT. STAT. ANN. tit. 21, § 706)

State Enforcement Agency: 

Vermont Department of Labor 

Website: https://labor.vermont.gov/workers%E2%80%99-compensation

Field Sanitation

• There is a state law regarding field sanitation. (VT. STAT. ANN. tit. 21, §§ 201 – 232) The state law adopts the federal OSHA standards for field sanitation.

State Enforcement Agency:

Vermont Department of Labor, Vermont Occupational Safety and Health Administration (VOSHA)

Website: https://labor.vermont.gov/

Pesticide Safety

• There is a state law regarding pesticide use and safety in agriculture, but not specific to worker safety. (VT. STAT. ANN. tit. 6, § 1101-1113; 2-3 VT. CODE R. § 300)
• Suspected pesticide poisoning is not a reportable illness for health care providers.

State Enforcement Agency:

Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, Agricultural Resource Management Division

Website: https://agriculture.vermont.gov/

Relevant forms: https://agriculture.vermont.gov/form/environmental-complaint-form

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 the right to engage in collective bargaining with employers. 
• There is a state statute that grants the right to form or join a labor organization or to collectively bargain but agricultural laborers are excluded (VT. STAT. ANN. tit. 21, § 1502(6)(A)).

State Legal Services Organizations

Legal Services Vermont

http://www.vtlawhelp.org/

Pine Tree Legal Assistance, Inc. (based in Maine) 

http://www.ptla.org