1 © 2015 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. 11 EXTENSION LABOR MANAGEMENT PROGRAMMING IN MINNESOTA: EVALUATIVE OUTCOMES AND IMPACTS ROB HOLCOMB, CHARLES SCHWARTAU, GARY A. HACHFELD, DAVID B. BAU, ANTONIO ALBA MERAZ AND DONALD L. NITCHIE

2 © 2015 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. PROGRAM BACKGROUND  Inter-disciplinary team including University of Minnesota educators from the Extension Dairy Team, Extension Family Development, and Agricultural Business Management.

3 © 2015 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES  ↑ Understanding and exhibit application of skills related to labor recruitment and retention  ↑ Understanding of labor regulations  ↑ Understanding of tax issues related to hired labor  ↑ Understanding of compensation systems  ↑ Understanding of human risk management through developing an employee handbook

4 © 2015 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. TARGET AUDIENCE  Livestock and crop producers in Minnesota  Secondary audience included agricultural professionals such as lenders, commodity organization staff, and farm management instructors.

5 © 2015 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. PROGRAM OFFERINGS  Employment Management Skills for Today: Planning for Success  Employment Management Skills for Today: Tax & Regulatory Issues in Minnesota  Employment Management Skills for Today: The Why’s and How’s of Developing Employee Handbooks

6 © 2015 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. PROGRAM TOPICS: PLANNING FOR SUCCESS  Assessing the need for hired labor/effective hiring process  Tax and regulatory issues  Communications – includes a cultural component  Compensation

7 © 2015 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. PROGRAM TOPICS: TAX & REGULATORY  Becoming an employer  Employee vs. contract labor  Worker documentation  New hire reporting requirements  Anti-discrimination laws  Minimum wage/overtime  Payroll & payroll deposits  Year-end reporting

8 © 2015 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. PROGRAM TOPICS: WHY’S AND HOW’S OF DEVELOPING AN EMPLOYEE MANUAL  Business policies  Orientation and training  Work Policies  Employee pay information  Leave of absence  Discipline  Job performance  Employee benefits

9 © 2015 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. RESULTS – “PLANNING FOR SUCCESS”  A total of 127 participants attended one of the 10 workshops presented since February  Participants represented 71 farm businesses from 63 different communities.  Seven local business sponsors and three local educators involved in marketing the program.

10 © 2015 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. IMPACT STATEMENT – “PLANNING FOR SUCCESS”  100% of participants self-reported increases in knowledge around all eight of the program educational points.  Significant knowledge increases were reported in five of the eight educational areas.  98.7% of participants rated the overall workshop good or excellent

11 © 2015 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. SELF-REPORTED KNOWLEDGE INCREASE END-OF-MEETING – PLANNING FOR SUCCESS (PFS) Program Educational Point Pre-Post Mean ∆ Assess business and determine labor needs.95 Labor recruitment and implementing a hiring process.89 Federal / State employer and employee tax / labor law requirements 1.14* Minnesota worker compensation, minimum wage, and non-discriminatory laws 1.09* Develop and implement an employee compensation plan 1.11* Complex lives of Hispanic/Latino workers1.06* Unique needs of immigrant employees1.05* Employers’ role in facilitating a positive work environment (relationships/communication).66 * Denotes level of significance at.05

12 © 2015 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. FOLLOW-UP EVALUATION (PFS)  Follow-up evaluation performed six months following the last workshop.  Focus is to determine program impacts based upon how participants utilized and acted on their new knowledge.

13 © 2015 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. FOLLOW-UP EVALUATION (PFS)  Follow-up evaluations were sent to 105 owner/operator participants from the 10 workshops.  20 businesses returned follow-up evaluation surveys (19%).

14 © 2015 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. FOLLOW-UP EVALUATION RESULTS (PFS) QuestionYesNo Have you assessed your operation and determined the level of hired labor needed? 65%35% Have you implemented a new or revised labor recruitment & hiring process? 20%80% Have you updated or implemented a new process for compliance with federal & state employer & employer tax & labor laws? 35%65% Cultural component helpful?45%55%

15 © 2015 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. QUALITATIVE COMMENTS (PFS)  Financial benefit from changes to hiring process: –“Saves the operation $400 each time we hire a new employee.” –“This information helped us and has potentially saved us any hiring penalties – about $500 in savings.”

16 © 2015 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. QUALITATIVE COMMENTS (PFS)  Employer/Employee tax & labor laws process: –“We were not following everything according to the law. This helped us get into compliance.” –“This prompted us to check and see if we were in compliance with all the tax and labor laws.” –“We are paying more attention to the I-9 forms now.”

17 © 2015 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. RESULTS – TAX & REGULATORY  One session sponsored by Minnesota Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association in 2014  Attendance: 11

18 © 2015 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. IMPACT STATEMENT – TAX & REGULATORY  100% of participants self-reported increases in knowledge around all seven of the program educational points.  Significant knowledge increases were reported in all seven educational areas.  100% of participants rated the overall workshop good or excellent

19 © 2015 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. SELF-REPORTED KNOWLEDGE INCREASE END-OF-MEETING – TAX & REGULATORY Program Educational Point Pre-Post Mean ∆ Federal employer and employee labor law requirements 1.20* Regulatory issues such as worker compensation, minimum wage, non-discrimination and overtime 1.30* Accurate and timely completion of the Form I-91.20* Examination and recording of worker documents1.50* Storage requirements for Form I-91.33* Processing payroll and payroll deposits1.30* Year-end information reporting (W-2s, 943, W-3)1.40* * Denotes level of significance at.05

20 © 2015 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. RESULTS – WHY’S AND HOW’S…..  Sessions held in January and March of 2014  Attendance: 16

21 © 2015 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. IMPACT STATEMENT – WHY’S AND HOW’S OF DEVELOPING EMPLOYEE MANUALS  100% of participants self-reported increases in knowledge around all seven of the program educational points.  Significant knowledge increases were reported in all seven educational areas.  100% of participants rated the overall workshop good or excellent

22 © 2015 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. SELF-REPORTED KNOWLEDGE INCREASE END-OF-MEETING – WHY’S AND HOW’S DEVELOPING EMPLOYEE HANDBOOKS Program Educational Point Pre-Post Mean ∆ Reasons for and importance of an employee handbook1.43* Types of policies that should be included in an employee handbook 1.43* The process involved in developing, writing and implementing an employee handbook 1.71* Usefulness of the “worksheet for organizing your employee handbook” 1.64* Usefulness of the sample handbooks1.64* The value of working in small teams on policy drafts during the workshop 1.29* Usefulness of the notebook material to continue development of your employee handbook 1.50* * Denotes level of significance at.05

23 © 2015 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. SUMMARY/CONCLUSION  Marketing/sponsorship seems to be the challenge  MN ABM team has recently experienced numerous retirements and new hires.

24 © 2015 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. SUMMARY/CONCLUSION (CONT.)  Follow-up evaluations are a challenge as behavior changes often are related to compliance issues  Frequently contacted by farm managers for follow-up compliance issues

25 © 2015 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. CONTACT INFORMATION Rob Holcomb, EA Extension Educator, Agricultural Business Management University of Minnesota Extension Extension Regional Office, Marshall 1424 E College Drive, Suite 100 Marshall, MN Phone: Fax:

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