USDA has established cooperative agreements focusing on three key areas to support participant success in the pilot:
- Know Your Rights and Resources (KYRR) training sessions for all workers to ensure they understand their legal rights as workers in the United States.
- Research and Evaluation to understand the impact of farm labor practices on workers and employers.
- H2-A Program technical assistance, education and guidance to help ensure participants operate in compliance with regulations Learn more about FLSP Technical Assistance.
KYRR Curriculum
The Know Your Rights and Resources (KYRR) component of FLSP anchors the program goals by endowing all farmworkers with labor rights and resources information, including credible connections to community resources (i.e., health, safety, faith-based, legal, etc.).
KYRR aims to:
- Ensure that all workers under the FLSP program understand and can employ their U.S. labor rights, consistent with federal, state, and local law
- Build a conduit of trusted resources for agricultural workers, and
- Strengthen trust between worker-serving organizations and employers, thus supporting the long-term resiliency of US farm labor.
In collaboration with USDA and other federal agencies, the KYRR Curriculum was developed by Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, USDA’s cooperative partner for the KYRR program. The KYRR Curriculum Manual is the primary instruction manual for KYRR Trainers around the country.
The KYRR Curriculum covers nine essential topic areas that address federal and local laws, as well an overview of the FLSP program and employer commitments, along with resources available to farmworkers. The topic areas include:
- Overview of FLSP program and commitments
- Recruitment rights
- Housing, food and contract guarantees
- Wage and Hour
- Occupational Health and Safety
- Discrimination
- Sexual Harassment and Violence
- Partnership Agreements
- Retaliation
While the curriculum is primarily designed as the basis for the required 2-hour KYRR training under FLSP for farmworkers employed by FLSP grantees, agricultural employers more broadly may also find it valuable to review the content. As a compilation of knowledge gathered from legal experts, government agencies, agricultural workers, and other key stakeholders, the curriculum aggregates most farmworker rights in one place, which employers as well as worker communities may find useful.
The KYRR training content was developed in consultation with several U.S. government federal agencies, including the Department of Labor - Wage and Hour Division and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, among others, who provided feedback focused on their respective administrative or regulatory competencies. The conclusions and recommendations of this manual may not reflect the official position of all agencies. Comments or questions about the manual can be directed to FLSPGrants@usda.gov.
Research and Evaluation
The research component supports the pilot’s three goals by addressing a major gap in knowledge about farm labor, the experiences of both workers and employers, and key practices that can improve labor stability. The research findings will shed light on the effects of the FLSP – including how different workplace environments, labor management, and recruitment practices impact worker retention, job satisfaction, productivity, market opportunities and farm viability.
Contact USDA
USDA Agricultural Marketing Service
1400 Independence Avenue, SW STOP 0201
Washington, DC 20250-0201
Email: FLSPGrants@usda.gov