Rule 300-2-3-.16 - Agricultural Labor(1) General definition. Generally, agricultural labor is exempt under OCGA Section 34-8-35, unless it is covered under OCGA Section 34-8-33(a)(3). OCGA Section 34-8-33 covers larger agricultural employers based on wages paid or number of individuals employed.(2) Definition of terms. The terms used in this section are defined as follows: (a) Agricultural commodities. Agricultural commodities include livestock, bees, poultry, fur-bearing animals, wildlife and all crops such as fruits, nuts, vegetables, grains and other commodities grown in the soil or other growth mediums for use or profit.(b) Horticultural commodities. Horticultural commodities are flowers and nursery products such as sod, fruit trees, shade trees, Christmas trees, ornamental plants and shrubs.(c) Raising and harvesting. Raising includes such things as planting the seeds, watering or irrigating, applying insecticide or fertilizer and otherwise caring for the commodity prior to harvesting. In regard to livestock, bees, poultry, fur-bearing animals and wildlife, raising includes caring for, feeding, shearing, breeding, training and managing. Harvesting includes such things as picking, cutting, threshing, shucking corn, baling hay, and hulling nuts. Horticultural commodities are harvested when they are available for sale.(d) Farm. A farm is any place used mainly for raising agricultural or horticultural commodities such as a ranch, orchard, nursery, greenhouse or other similar structure.(3) Agricultural labor. "Agricultural labor" means any service performed in any one of the following: (a) On a farm, in the employ of any person in connection with:1. Cultivating the soil, which includes plowing, dragging and fertilizing; or2. Raising or harvesting any agricultural or horticultural commodity.(b) In the employ of the owner or operator of a farm, if the major part of the service is performed on a farm, in connection with:1. The operation, management, conservation, improvement or maintenance of the farm and its tools and equipment. This includes clearing land, leveling land, selling agricultural commodities raised by the operator and services performed by painters, mechanics, farm supervisors and bookkeepers, provided the individual is not an employee of another firm hired by the farm operator; or2. Salvaging timber or clearing land of brush or other debris left by a hurricane, storm, flood or other natural disaster.(c) In the employ of any person in connection with:1. The production or harvesting of agricultural commodities defined in Section 15(g) of the Federal Agricultural Marketing Act. These commodities are limited to crude gum (oleoresin) from a living tree, and gum spirits of turpentine and gum rosin processed from crude gum by the original producer of the crude gum; or2. The ginning of cotton; or3. The operation or maintenance of ditches, canals, reservoirs or waterways if not owned or operated for profit and used primarily for farming purposes.(d) In the employ of the operator of a farm or group of operators of farms who produce more than one-half of the commodity and perform services with respect to such commodity in its unmanufactured state in: 1. Handling, planting, drying, packing, packaging, processing, freezing, grading or storing the commodity. However, services performed in connection with commercial canning or commercial freezing do not constitute agricultural labor; or2. Delivery to storage or to market or to a carrier for transportation to market of the commodity. However, services performed in connection with any agricultural or horticultural commodity after its delivery to a terminal market for distribution for consumption or in connection with the wholesaling and retailing of the commodity do not constitute agricultural labor. The selling activity, however, is agricultural when it is performed on the farm. (4) Examples of the application of the definition of agricultural labor.(a) Raising and selling. Services in connection with raising agricultural or horticultural commodities are agricultural labor. However, if this business also sells the commodity, the selling activity is not agricultural labor unless performed on the farm.(b) Included and excluded services (agricultural labor). If in example (a) above, the same individual performs both agricultural and nonagricultural labor, the entire service will be considered to be agricultural labor if fifty percent (50%) or more of the individual's time in a pay period was spent in agricultural labor (see OCGA Section 34-8-33). (c) Poultry hatchery. Poultry hatchery services are agricultural labor provided they are performed on the farm or in the employ of a farm operator or group of operators who produced more than one half the commodity (the eggs). Services for a commercial hatchery that is not part of a farm that raises poultry are not agricultural labor.(d) Raising livestock. Raising livestock and related activities performed on a farm are agricultural labor. Services in connection with livestock held, cared for and fed in a feed lot over an extended period of time to make an appreciable weight increase are agricultural labor. However, operating a stable or stud farm where no animals are raised is agricultural labor only if it is performed on a farm. Services in connection with racing, using livestock in rodeos, exhibiting livestock and training livestock for these purposes are not agricultural labor when not performed on the farm where the animals were raised.(e) Forestry, lumbering and landscaping. Services performed in forestry, lumbering and landscaping are not agricultural labor.Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 300-2-3-.16
O.C.G.A. Secs. 34-8-70, 34-8-150.
Original Rule entitled "Agricultural Labor" adopted. F. Aug. 28, 1992; eff. Sept. 17, 1992.Amended: F. June 25, 1998; eff. July 15, 1998.