The local One-Stop Career Center offers you a full range of employment services. These services include counseling, testing, job training, and referral services which are intended to be sensitive to your interests, needs and skills, as well as to the availability of job and training opportunities.

The local One-Stop Career Center can also help you if you have a complaint regarding the Employment Service or regarding violations of employment-related laws.

You may also be eligible for services under the National Farmworker Jobs Program Section 167 funded by the U.S. Department of Labor.  These programs are to assist farmworkers and their dependents to obtain and retain agricultural or non-agricultural employment.  Ask your local One-Stop Career Center about a program nearby.
For help in finding work through the Agricultural Recruitment System, contact your local One-Stop Career Center in your local area.

To locate a One-Stop Career Centers in your community, please visit:

http://www.careeronestop.org/

What can the Agricultural Recruitment System do for me?
•	Help you find temporary jobs in agriculture and food processing outside your local area (elsewhere in your state and in other states);
•	Provide no-cost or public housing for you and your family during the employment period;
•	Guarantee wages the first week;
•	Ensure that you will be protected by the Federal and State standards for health, safety, wages, and working conditions while on the job; and
•	Give you more control over your work life. You will have reliable information on wages, work activities, housing, and transportation before you sign an agreement to the work area.

Note: The foregoing benefits and protections apply only to jobs under the ARS when you are unable to return to your residence in the same day. The local One-Stop Career Center office may help you find other jobs, agricultural and non-agricultural, in your local area, but these special benefits and protections, such as housing and wage guarantees, do not apply to them.

U.S. Department of Labor
Employment and Training Administration
200 Constitution Ave. N.W.
Washington, DC 20210

This material will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request.
Voice phone: 1-866-4-USA-DOL (1-866-487-2365)
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The Agricultural
Recruitment System:
An Agricultural
Worker's Guide
U.S Department of Labor
Employment and Training Administration

2010

Agricultural Recruitment System (ARS)

The Wagner-Peyser Act requires that the United States Employment Service maintain a system for the orderly movement of workers within and between States.  Through the ARS, the State Workforce Agencies can systematically recruit and refer qualified workers from within a State and from other States when there is an anticipated shortage of workers.  These regulations provide the system for agricultural of food processing Clearance Orders which request workers for less than one year of employment.  They are based on the Department's policy of requiring specific assurances and information in the Agricultural Clearance Orders.

How does the Agricultural Recruitment System work?

The Agricultural Recruitment System links employers who have temporary agricultural and food processing jobs with workers who need these jobs and are willing to live temporarily away from their local area.

The process is as follows:
1

An employer asks a local One-Stop Career Center for help in recruiting temporary agricultural or food processing workers.

2
The local One-Stop Career Center finds that there is or will be a shortage of qualified and interested workers in the area near the job site. 

3
An Agricultural Clearance (Recruitment) Order is signed by the employer.  It lists:
•	The work to be done;
•	Wages, benefits, and bonuses, if any;
•	Type of housing provided, and any transportation assistance provided.

4
The Clearance (Recruitment) Order is sent to local One-Stop Career Centers in States where qualified and interested workers are available.

5
The local One-Stop Career Center representatives actively recruit for qualified and interested workers.  Summary information on wages, working conditions, and other matters specified in the job order is given to interested workers.  A complete copy of the Order will be provided at the local One-Stop Career Center upon request.

6
An employer or an employer representative may come to the worker supply area and interview individual workers.  This is the usual practice when the employer is a crew leader (registered Farm Labor Contractor).

7
Workers agree to accept the job offer and notify a local One-Stop Career Center representative.

8
The worker checks with a local One-Stop Career Center 5 - 9 working days before employment is scheduled to begin.  Unless told at this time that the start date has been changed, the worker is guaranteed wages for the first week of employment.

9
The worker travels to the work site.  The employer may provide some or all of the transportation cost or may actually transport the workers and their families.

10
Work begins.  The worker is entitled to protection under Federal and state laws relating to wages, working conditions, housing, health and safety. The worker who fulfills the employment contract is eligible for all rights and benefits specified in the Clearance (Recruitment) Order.
The ARS Provides:
Housing for you and, when applicable your family
Employers who recruit through the Agricultural Recruitment System guarantee that no-cost or public housing will be available for workers.  If it is the practice in the area, employers must also provide housing for workers' families.  This housing must meet Federal and State housing standards.

Acceptable wage and working conditions
The wages of workers recruited through the Agricultural Recruitment System may not be less than the highest of (1) the prevailing wage for similar work in the area; (2) the Federal minimum wage, or (3) the applicable State minimum wage.
Working conditions cannot be less than those of similarly employed workers in the area where the jobs are located.

Guaranteed wages for the first week
Workers must check with a Local One-Stop Career Center 5 - 9 working days before the date work is scheduled to start.  If a worker is not informed at this time that the start date has changed, the first week's wages are guaranteed.

Transportation, in most cases
Transportation assistance both going to and returning from the job is often provided to workers and their families. However, you should check this out with the Employment Service Office.

Contact your Local One-Stop Career Center and find out what work may be available for you through the Agricultural Recruitment System.