Employment Law for Urban Farms and Community Gardens: Who Counts as an Employee?
Who counts as an employee
The FLSA defines an employee as “any individual employed by an employer,” and “employ” as including “to suffer or permit to work.” That wording is broad, so the question is what actually happens on your farm or garden. Labels and signed forms help but do not decide it.
| Helper | What the law says | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Paid worker | An employee. Federal and state wage, safety and tax rules apply, subject to exemptions. | Which exemptions you qualify for, and what your state adds. |
| Volunteer for a nonprofit | Under the Department of Labor’s guidance on nonprofits (Fact Sheet #14A), people who volunteer for charitable or civic nonprofits as a public service are generally not covered by the FLSA. | Stipends, housing or regular meals can make someone an employee (Alaska labor department). Volunteering in commercial activity is a risk. |
| Family member of the owner | Exempt from federal minimum wage and overtime if a parent, spouse, child or other immediate family member of the employer. | Other laws (safety, child labor) can still apply. |
| Intern or apprentice | No special federal status for a farm; the real arrangement decides. | Who benefits most, whether they replace paid workers, and your state’s rules. |
| Independent contractor | Decided by the actual relationship (control, chance of profit or loss), not by a contract label. The Department of Labor’s test has been changing, and states can be stricter. | Ask your state labor agency before treating regular helpers as contractors. |
For the protection of volunteers and the organization, see our guide to volunteer liability in community gardens. The Fact Sheet #14A points above come from summaries; read the full sheet on the Department of Labor’s site before relying on them.
Which federal laws apply to a farm
The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division lists the main federal laws for agricultural employers. Whether each one reaches you depends on size and on what you do.
| Law | What it covers | When it starts to matter |
|---|---|---|
| FLSA (29 U.S.C. § 213) | Minimum wage, overtime, recordkeeping, child labor. | The minimum wage and overtime exemption for small farms ends if you used more than 500 man-days in any quarter of the previous year. |
| Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act | Pay, housing, transport and disclosure standards; registration of farm labor contractors. | If you use migrant or seasonal workers or a farm labor contractor. Check details with the Wage and Hour Division. |
| H-2A program | Recruitment, wages, housing and transport for temporary foreign agricultural workers. | Only if you bring in workers under that visa program. |
| OSHA field sanitation (29 CFR § 1928.110) | Drinking water, toilets and hand-washing in the field. | When 11 or more employees do hand labor in the field on any given day. |
| Federal unemployment tax (26 U.S.C. § 3306) | Employer tax for unemployment insurance. | For farms, when wages reach $20,000 in a quarter or 10 or more workers are employed on some day in each of 20 different weeks (this or the previous year). |
Does the small-farm exemption apply to you?
Section 213(a)(6) of the FLSA exempts some agricultural workers from the minimum wage and overtime rules. A “man-day” is any day on which an employee does at least one hour of farm labor, so part-time helpers add up faster than you might expect.
- Did you use no more than 500 man-days of farm labor in every calendar quarter of last year?Yes: the exemption applies to your workers. No: go to step 2.
- Is the worker your parent, spouse, child or other immediate family member?Yes: exempt. No: go to step 3.
- Is the worker a hand harvester paid by the piece in a customary piece-rate operation, who commutes daily from a permanent home and worked in agriculture fewer than 13 weeks last year?Yes: exempt. No: go to step 4.
- Is the worker 16 or younger, a piece-rate hand harvester on the same farm as a parent, paid the same rate as adults?Yes: exempt. No: go to step 5.
- Is the worker mainly engaged in range production of livestock?Yes: exempt. No: minimum wage and overtime rules apply; check your state, which may be stricter.
These exemptions are only from federal minimum wage and overtime. They do not remove child labor rules, safety rules or your state’s wage law. Some states set stricter rules; we did not verify state wage rates, so check yours with the state labor department.
Children and young workers
Farm work has its own child labor rules in the FLSA (29 U.S.C. § 213(c)). They are more relaxed than the rules for other jobs, but they are not absent: workers under 16 cannot do work the Department of Labor has declared particularly hazardous, unless they work for their own parent on a farm the parent owns or operates. Details, ages and examples are in our guide to child labor and youth workers on urban farms.
Who enforces employment laws
- Wage and Hour Division, U.S. Department of Labor: FLSA, MSPA and H-2A. It recommends contacting the nearest district office with specific questions.
- OSHA: workplace safety and field sanitation.
- Your state labor department: state wage, hour, child labor and workers’ compensation rules.
Workers’ compensation is state law, and the farm exemptions differ; see our liability and insurance guide for what we could confirm.
Before you hire your first worker
- Decide whether the person is an employee, a volunteer or a contractor, based on what they really do.
- Check whether the small-farm exemption applies this year.
- Ask your state labor agency about minimum wage, overtime and child labor.
- Arrange workers’ compensation as your state requires, and ask about unemployment insurance.
- Keep records of hours and pay.
- If you are a nonprofit, read our nonprofit guide; for a business, urban farm businesses.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to pay minimum wage on a small farm?
Not under federal law if you used no more than 500 man-days of farm labor in every quarter of the previous year. Your state may still require it.
Can I pay volunteers a small stipend?
Be careful. The Alaska labor department says regular stipends, housing or meals can make a volunteer an employee. The federal Volunteer Protection Act separately treats someone who receives more than $500 a year as not a volunteer.
Are family members employees?
They can be, but immediate family members of the employer are exempt from federal minimum wage and overtime. Other laws may still apply.
Do I need toilets and drinking water for farm workers?
Federal field sanitation rules apply when 11 or more employees do hand labor in the field on any day. Your state may have its own sanitation rules, so ask your state labor or agriculture agency.
Does the FLSA apply to gardening done by a nonprofit?
Volunteers for charitable nonprofits are generally outside it, but paid staff are not, and commercial activities are treated differently. Read Department of Labor Fact Sheet #14A.
Where can I get an answer for my situation?
Call the Wage and Hour Division district office or your state labor department. They can answer questions about your facts.
Official sources
- Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 203 and 213
- U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division: Agricultural Employment (page undated)
- U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #14A: Non-Profit Organizations and the FLSA (August 2015; not opened directly, see note above)
- 29 CFR § 1928.110, Field sanitation
- 26 U.S.C. § 3306, Federal Unemployment Tax Act definitions
- Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, volunteers and workers’ compensation (page updated November 10, 2025)