The Bigger Picture

Jennifer Zurko

To see all of the charts and specific data, please see our digital edition.

Welcome to our new, improved Wage & Benefit Survey results! For those who took the survey, we hope you noticed how much easier it was to participate this year. We simplified it to make most of the questions multiple choice. Before, we would ask respondents to write in the salary amounts for each position individually, which sometimes forced people to look up the number, because who remembers the pay scale for every single person? Now we’re using a range that you can just check off. It prevents less error this way, too, for even more accurate results. Oh, and thank you very much for taking the time to fill it out. We really appreciate it and our readers who look for this article every year do, too.

Because of this new system, we’re showing the ranges with percentages that show how many people chose that answer. We’ve also whittled down the list of positions. We’re still breaking the numbers down by country, region, size and business type, so that you can see where you measure up in your area of North America.

So, what have we learned this year? That wages are pretty much the same as last year. (Although we did learn that Canada’s minimum wage is higher than the U.S.—sometimes by $3.00 or $4.00, depending on the province.) Nothing fluctuated that much from last year with regard to hourly pay for general labor and annual salaries for growers and management. The highest percentages for each position are highlighted for quicker reference.

And what’s that saying about not talking about religion or politics? Well, we broke the second rule by asking you about immigration reform and the new healthcare law, which garnered some very interesting answers. There’s no doubt that both topics get people fired up regardless of what side of the fence you stand, but both issues are what growers and retailers are concerned about for the future of their businesses.

The Great Debate on Immigration
We’ve asked about immigration before, but this year, we decided to delve into it a bit more by asking about how it relates to your staff. Well over half of our respondents said that they DO NOT employ immigrant workers, which may surprise a few of you. So, we wondered: Was the question unclear? Do people have different definitions on what “immigrant” means?

To be clear, we were not asking about illegal immigrants. It was more of a lead-up question to the discussion on immigration reform and how people felt about the legislation (or lack thereof). To us, “immigrant” means any foreign-born person. “Migrant” means guest workers who come to the U.S. or Canada for a short time, work and then return to their home country after the season is over. Perhaps next year, we’ll craft the question differently to get a better sense of who’s working in the greenhouses.

But maybe we’ll be looking at a whole new staffing picture this time in 2014 if comprehensive immigration reform becomes a reality. We asked the hot-button question about whether survey participants favored or opposed immigration reform. A lot of people chose not to answer, but those who did voiced their opinions on the subject that offers no gray area.

Comments:

“Secure [the] border first and foremost. Then we’ll talk.”
“All aspects of the so-called reform are very punitive to our Hispanic workers.”
“I believe there should be amnesty for the kids who were born here and for their parents who have contributed to our economy for 3+ years.”
“It is sorely needed, but I have yet to hear a plan from Washington, D.C., that makes much sense.”
“Trying to do too much in one bill.”
“Give all liberty.”
“Immigrant labor will do ag work—American workers won’t.”
“Need to have a national policy all accept.”
“The system is abusive and doesn’t support the needs of the ag community as is.”
“Yes. Because once they become a citizen they can pay taxes. Also, most immigrants were brought here as infants, and were raised here, and they have NO rights—they can’t go to school, if they have a job, they have little opportunity to thrive, as opposed to their American friends or other American children they grew up with. This reform is a win-win for all.” “Because then our laws will accommodate for reality.”
“Illegals are breaking the law. No benefits for them or their family. Get a green card—become an English-speaking citizen.”
“Not sure I’ll agree with their solution, but something has to be done.”
“Immigrants do a lot of the jobs and work harder and better than a lot of Americans. They are not taking jobs away—they are just doing them.”
“In favor of immigration program that works and allows immigrants to earn citizenship.”
“We have good immigration laws already.”
“I’m told our illegal immigrants are needed and we need more temporary workers. I can remember when my high school friends would travel from Michigan to California just to get work for the summer. Are our own youth too pampered or just plain lazy?”
“Need a guest worker program first and foremost.”
“Hurts local, state economy. Gives benefits to illegal immigrants. Promotes inflation.”
“Immigrant workers are here anyway. Need to have rules to govern them.”
“Because it is right. They really want/need to provide for their family both here and in Mexico. They need/want to pay their share of taxes. They want/need to feel safe. We have responsibility to help them and that will in turn help us.” “We have to have dependable source of migrant workers for not only agriculture, but many other industries, too. Not having a program in place leaves hirers in a state of uncertainty.”
“We would like our H2-A workers to be eligible to become residents so that we are not going through the application process every year and uncertain whether we will be approved for how many we need.”
“Right now our hands are legally tied to do anything when it comes to an immigrant worker. Hopefully, immigration reform will give us ways to legally manage these employees.”
“Twelve million undocumented workers keep the U.S. and Mexican economies going, especially the ag sector. We can’t afford to lose that labor and tax base.”
“Benefits our business and it is the ethical thing to do.”
“Labor shortage in the [Southwest]—construction and tourism industry all use same pool of workers. We lost a lot of workers with the passage of SB1070.” (Editor’s note: SB1070 is Arizona’s anti-illegal immigrant bill that was signed in 2010 and went into effect in 2012.)
“Legally documented workers is key to fairness in our system. Additionally, having a ‘pathway to citizenship,’ as long as it is enforced, is good for our country.”
“Washington will never get it right.”

Who responded to our survey?
Our annual pie charts on who was kind enough to take our survey show no change in business type and the Midwest is still representing. However, the South stepped up this year, while Canada took a step back with the number of respondents. Also, most of our respondents sell direct to consumers, to other wholesalers or independent garden centers.

Staffing
This was a new question this year so we could see how large or small respondents’ staff is during peak and it appears that most of our survey takers are small or medium-sized growers or grower-retailers.
We’re also seeing that staffing plans for next year are pretty much the same as this year. According to some of our respondents, the new healthcare law may change their number of employees a bit next year. (Turn to page 56 to read about healthcare.)

Healthcare & other benefits

Healthcare reform is on the lips and in the minds of many business owners who are rightly worried about the impact it will have on their operations and their valued employees. Health insurance may be a huge thorn in every employer’s side, but even they admitted that this is the benefit that’s most important to their employees, which tied with paid vacation. But not as many are offering it to their staff compared to 2004. Besides bonuses, health insurance is the decreasing number that stands out.

The new healthcare reform law has a lot of people wringing their hands, pacing the floor of their office or both. Many of our respondents seem to be of a mindset to “wait and see” because they’re unsure of how it will impact their businesses. Some people said that they’re going to make their staff go part-time to stay under the threshold or they were already small enough not to have to worry about it. One just said, “VERY BAD” (yes, in all caps).

Another said that they foot the bill for their entire healthcare program, which is about $394 per month for each employee, and that the staff may have to start sharing some of the costs or they’re going to have to shop for their own insurance. Most small businesses won’t be impacted at all because they have less than 50 employees, but one small grower made an interesting observation: “If the rates are good and tax incentives strong enough, I may convert one seasonal employee to full time and get him insured. The rest of us married wisely (spouses have insurance).”

You’ll see from some of the other comments below that many business owners are confused about how the new healthcare law will play a role in their operation.

How do you expect the Healthcare Reform Law to impact your business and what are you going to do about it?

“We have a very small staff, so we are not impacted in that regard; but our own premiums will now be far more costly.”
“[It] will raise operating costs. Evaluating all options and costs. Have not made changes to benefits at present. Waiting to see what changes will take place.”
“We don’t have enough employees to worry about it; however, pressure from employees may eventually force us to be involved.”
“No impact (we are below the mandatory threshold.) I SUPPORT Healthcare Reform Law, as some of my employees who have been living without healthcare will now be able to have it.”
“Shouldn’t affect us too much—we don’t have a large group; policy rates may go up ‘again’ after this is all sorted out. We were grandfathered in for another year (through 2014) until our company can sort it all out.”
“It will give the employees more options than they had before.”
“Most employees do not understand that law and think they are going to be entitled to ‘company-backed’ insurance, which will make business owners look bad if [they] don’t give health benefits. We must inform employees and maybe help them find some other alternatives for better healthcare than we can provide.”
“Will reduce the quality, availability and affordability of healthcare.”
“I expect it to bring about well-needed healthcare options so everyone will have health insurance.”
“It may reduce our customer service capabilities as we will have to be careful to stay under 50 employees. The rest of the staff will have to work a little more efficiently to take up the slack.”
“Will probably drop group health plan.”
“It will make it easier for us to get seasonal employees to come back the following year as acquiring health insurance will not be a reason for needing to be full-time status.”
“I expect it to increase our health insurance costs. This has already happened. At this point we are unsure what to do. We may not be able to offer the same package as before due to cost.”
“Worry about rates and if they will truly stay affordable for small businesses. I work with a health insurance broker to try and stay current and keep our rates down.”
“Hopefully, it will lower my costs.”
“The 90-day rule will certainly affect us. Will we keep part-time workers past 89 days? Right now hard to say. This may be greatest impact right now.”
“Healthcare reform law will cause my suppliers to increase their prices, which in turn, I will have to do the same. I have already announced a price increase for spring 2014. It was something that my customers were expecting. I have had no negative feedback.”
“Perhaps it will ‘level the playing field’ with us versus the mainland nurseries as they will begin to pay the benefits that Hawaii nurseries have been paying for a long time.” (Editor’s note: Hawaii has has a prepaid insurance law since 1974, which requires businesses to offer health insurance to employees who work more than 20 hours per week for four or more consecutive weeks. Currently, 96% of Hawaiians are insured.)
“I don’t expect it to affect our business much, although I do hope it allows some of our workers who have health issues the opportunity to purchase insurance at a lower rate than currently available to them.”
“We already pay most of our employees’ cost of health insurance. When my competitors are forced to pay a share, it will help make the business competition more fair.”
“[I’m] Canadian. We have that and [we’re] very happy with our health care system.”
“I expect to add health insurance benefits and will appreciate the lower premiums I expect to find. I believe everyone has a right to affordable healthcare that is accessible to everyone. The healthcare reform law won’t fix this very broken system, but it is one step in the right direction. I will find a way to pay for it.” GT

Focus, Control and Making Time to Hire
By Bob Zahra

Bob Zahra is an executive search consultant with Florasearch, Inc., a certified personnel consultant, and past chairman of the board of the National Association of Executive Recruiters. For more information, visit www.florasearch.com or call (407) 320-8177.

When there’s no time to do anything but run the business, how do you make time to hire the key employee you need?

1. First, remember the difference between urgent decisions and important decisions. You make urgent decisions every minute as part of your regular workday. Many urgent decisions aren’t as weighty as important decisions. The new, key employee is one of the important decisions, which, like many important decisions, often remains unresolved. The important decision is often subordinated to the daily routine, keeping the business stuck in its same track, without improvement. Make time for your important decisions.

2. Secondly, identify the person you need within the context of the longest timeline. In other words, make this hire bring value way into the future, in concert with your furthest strategic objectives. It’s not good enough to plug a hole with an available body.

3. Know what you want. It’s not absolutely necessary to have a written job description with all the bells and whistles, but it’s important to know exactly what the new employee looks like before you start searching. Yes, it’s fine and often necessary to tweak your objectives during the actual search.

4. It’s better to learn to like the person who can excel in the position than to have excellent chemistry with an individual who will struggle.

5. Guard against the power trip. If you’re in a position to hire others, you already are successful and in a position of authority. At this moment, working for your company is the single most important decision in the candidate’s life. Put yourself in his/her shoes if you can. Be as attentive and respectful to the runners up as you are to the new hire. This industry, internationally, is still a small town, and you will run into everybody again. GT