Recruiting Farm Workers

The New York State Department of Labor offers many free services to businesses, including assisting employers with the recruitment of qualified workers on a temporary, seasonal, or year-round basis. The mechanism for doing this is posting a free job order in our job matching system. If you determine that you would like to hire workers, you can contact your Agriculture Labor Specialist or any Department of Labor office to ask for assistance with meeting your workforce requirements. You can choose self-service, submit your order by facsimile, or provide the information over the phone. We recommend that you provide at least the following information.

• Employer's FEIN
• Name and address of employer
• Address where the work will be performed, if different
• Job title
• Job description
• Minimum experience requirement
• Wage
• How to apply*

*You can choose to have the interested worker contact you directly (by telephone, by e-mail, or in person) or require that prospective employees be referred by the Department of Labor. Whenever possible, our Agriculture Labor Specialists assist job seekers who are looking for farm work.

There are several ways to open a Job Order. You can complete the Agricultural Recruitment Services Form (AL 515) and send it in by fax or by email to your Agriculture Labor Specialist.

Specifically in Agriculture, you have the option to have your job order posted not only locally but statewide and interstate using the U. S. Department of Labor's Agricultural Recruitment System, through your local New York State Career Center, or by contacting your Agriculture Labor Specialist.

For more information about recruitment through the state Department of Labor's Career Center system, visit our Recruitment Services page or contact your Agriculture Labor Specialist.

To get a head start, you can complete the Local Agriculture Job Order Form.

For information about the federal Agricultural Recruitment System, please see our Agricultural Recruitment System fact sheet.

The state Department of Labor has incentive programs to assist employers who hire individuals from certain targeted populations. There are also other free services available to businesses.

For example, if you are recruiting for year-round work, your business may be eligible for the On-The-Job Training Program.

For information about the federal guest worker visa program, visit our H-2A & H-2B web pages.

You have the option of hiring a licensed Farm Labor Contractor (FLC) to handle your worker recruitment. You can search for registered FLCs who recruit or manage workers in your area.

How to work with a Farm Labor Contractor

Your Agriculture Labor Specialist can supply you with required posters for your workplace. You can submit a request to receive posters at any time.

Or you can print your own posters from this Poster Packet.