Agrijob's presentation

Agrijob's function is to recruit agricultural workers in the city of Montreal in order to occupy casual and seasonal working positions that are offered by the agricultural producers of the surrounding area of Montreal.

Agrijob is managed by the AGRIcarrières, the sector committee of labour of the agricultural production; The Agrijob service was founded in 2001, thanks to a financial contribution from

Emploi-Québec.

Type of employment

The job offers are the following:

• Harvesting labourer
• Farm labourer (fruits and vegetables)
• Farm worker (fruits and vegetables)

The principals tasks concern to:

• Harvesting and maintenance of cultures
• Conditioning
• Classification and packing the harvested products

The jobs are offered on a casual or seasonal basis.

Worker's registration

Montreal residents, who are interested in being employed as agricultural workers, can register at Agrijob. Each day, a list of all candidates who subscribed at our office will be sent to the five agricultural employment centres (AEC) of the area of Montreal that recruit and place the agricultural workforce.

The AEC receive the job offers from the agricultural produers and, according to the needs, contact the candidates who are registered at Agrijob.

By suscribing to Agrijob, workers will receive a free identification card.

The Agrijob card

In order to obtain the required ID card, the candidate will need to show up at Agrijob office and provide:

• Name, address, and phone number
• Social insurance number (SIN) (The social insurance card is obligatory when SIN starts by number 9)
• Work permit, if the SIN starts by number 9
• Another valid ID card with photo

Thecandidate will sign his/her card and make sure to have it at the worksites.

The I.D. card does not guarantee employment; it only indicates that the person is registered and available to work in agriculture. However, the card is essential when the worker is transported to the farms by the designated bus from Longueuil and Henri-Bourassa subway station

Working conditions

Remuneration

The remuneration paid to the agricultural workers from Montreal in 2010 is $9,53/hour.

The salary is composed by the following:

• basic wage: $9,16/hour;
• 4% for annual leave indemnity: $0,37/hour.

From May 1st, remuneration should increase to $9,88/hour and would be composed by the following:

• basic wage: $9,50/hour;
• 4% for annual leave indemnity: $0,38/hour.

The remuneration is paid, in most cases, at the end of every work day. In some agricultural productions, jobs can be paid by efficiency (piecework).

Working schedule

Work in the fields usually begins during the month of April and can go on until mid-November. However, the period where most work is available, is between mid-June and end of September.

A workday is berween 8 to 9 hours long. The workdays begins around 8 a.m. and finishes around

5 p.m.

A workday includes:

• 10 minutes morning breaktime (paid)
• A period of at least 30 minutes for lunch (not paid)
• 10 minutes afternoon breaktime (paid)

Worksites

Each agricultural company must have for their employees:

• an adequate place to change their clothes
• a cool place to keep their meals
• a place to wash and to store their belongings
• clean tables in sufficient quantity
• enough potable water on the work place
• accessible toilets

The AEC advises the agricultural producers about the equipment and hardware that are required on the worksites in order to ensure conformity of the work conditions with the laws in effect.