This term encompasses two groups:
Migrant Farmworkers: These are workers who move from one location to another to find employment in agriculture. They often follow crop cycles and work in different areas during different seasons.
Seasonal Farmworkers: These are workers who are employed in agriculture on a seasonal basis. They work during specific times of the year when there is a high demand for labor, such as planting or harvest seasons.
Both groups are essential to the agricultural industry, providing labor during peak times when crops need to be planted, tended, and harvested.
The key difference between a migrant farmworker and a seasonal farmworker is based on their living arrangements relative to their place of work. A migrant farmworker lives too far from the work site to commute daily and typically stays in employer-provided housing. In contrast, a seasonal farmworker resides close enough to the job to commute daily and return home at the end of each workday.
MSFWs must receive services on a basis which is qualitatively equivalent and quantitatively proportionate to services provided to non-MSFWs. The MassHire Department of Career Services (MDCS) ensures that MassHire Career Center (MCC) staff at one-stop centers offer MSFWs the full range of career and supportive services, benefits and protections, and job and training referral services as are provided to non-MSFWs. MDCS ensures MCC staff across the Commonwealth, tailor such Employment Service (ES) in a way that accounts for individual MSFW preferences, needs, skills, and the availability of job and training opportunities, so that MSFWs are reasonably able to participate in the employment services. MDCS and MCCs make job order information conspicuous and available to MSFWs by all reasonable means. Such information must, at minimum, be available through internet labor exchange systems and through the MCCs. MDCS must ensure MCC staff at one-stop centers provide help to MSFWs to access Job Order information easily and efficiently.
Services:
- Job listings/Postings
- Recruitments and job fairs
- Workshops on a variety of job search topics
- Resource room with computers (Microsoft office and internet access), printer, fax machine, telephones, newspapers, career resource library
- Career Decision-Making Assessment
- Labor Market Information
- Employment and career counselors
- Veterans employment counseling
- On-the-job training
- Workshops and seminars