This question is the crux of a conversation I had with Warren Williams, a retired DOL investigator turned compliance consultant. Here is a lightly edited transcript of our conversation.

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James Christopher Hall

When I look at the WA state violations (they are public) a lot of the post-occupancy violation reasons cited are the result of workers just not taking care of their shared space (I've had roommates like this in college!). I know it all comes down to the grower at the end of the day, but I’d be curious what percentage could be avoided if workers were better informed and held accountable?

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Warren Williams

Some states have more stringent rules the basics are in the OSHA or ETA standards basically what the SWAs go by and WHD. I would say worker accountability is a major issue. If they don't know the benefits of keeping the place somewhat clean then it goes down from there. What's strange is when I checked female housing it was fine, there's something about putting a bunch of guys together and not educating them that can be a recipe for disaster. 100% education and accountability is the key. Hiring a cleaning team is available under H-2A for farmers. To be honest, neglect by both workers and farmers is the problem, but the workers don't pay penalties.

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James

That's hilarious (but unsurprising) about the gender differences. Some of our customers have housing agreements they have workers sign. Basically a list of rules, and that the workers understand them. My customers seem to think it will protect them from violations, but to me they seem more useful in terms of disciplining employees. Would an investigator care if the workers signed the housing agreement?

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Warren

No, they would issue the violation anyway.

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If you need help managing your temporary worker housing check out Harvust's H-2A housing management tools, and if you require hands-on expert assitance you can get in touch with Warrent at his website https://www.wlw2consulting.com/