What happened
In spring 2025, the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) announced a record fine of roughly $1.25 million against a farm labor contractor. According to L&I, investigators concluded that the company had operated without a license and failed to furnish the required written disclosures (containing details such as pay, job type, location, housing, and transportation) to 4,950 domestic and 26 H-2A workers. The company has appealed.
Why does that matter? Because those are precisely the onboarding and disclosure duties that compliance-focused farm HR software systems are designed to make routine, provable, and consistent! I can't help but think how things could have been different if they had used Harvust...
What went wrong (per L&I) and how Harvust addresses it
L&I's findings included:
- Operating without a farm labor contractor license in 2024.
- Failing to provide complete, up-to-date worker disclosure statements to nearly 5,000 workers.
- Failing to maintain/produce the required records during review.
How Harvust helps you avoid these pitfalls:
- Built-in disclosure workflows: Our document library includes the Washington state FLC disclosure, which can be customized to reflect your specific wage rates, job type, location, dates, and housing/transportation details. When added to a hiring packet on Harvust, it automatically captures an e-signature in the required language, is time-stamped, and stored.
- Immutable audit trail: Every step is recorded so you can produce records on demand.
- Scales to busy seasons: Whether you onboard 50 or 5,000 workers, at one location, or several, the process looks the same and stays compliant.
- Powerful reports: Our easy-to-use report builder allows you to download all your signed disclosure statements, making record production fast and efficient.
“Expensive" vs. costly
Adding more operating expenses is never fun, but for any owner/operator, the real question isn't “Can we shave a few dollars off software?" It's “What's our risk-adjusted total cost?"
Illustrative math:
- If your farm cycles 1,000 seasonal workers over a year, $10 per hire (our pricing) comes out to $10,000.
- Contrast that with $1.25M in fines, plus legal spend, staff time, reputation damage, and operational disruption.
- Even if your numbers are half or double, the order of magnitude speaks for itself.
The leadership lesson
Leaders rarely regret paying for reliable compliance. They often regret under-investing right before regulators come knocking. The "price" conversation is valid, but it has to include risk, complexity, and proof. Harvust exists to remove uncertainty from your most sensitive labor compliance workflows. You're not just buying a new system; you're buying a process. That's what ag employers are really buying when they bring on new tech: a partner that produces outcomes that protect you.
A free 30-minute audit
If you're an owner/operator or FLC, we'll personally walk you through an audit of your hiring process:
- Are you a licensed FLC? Should you be?
- Where do your disclosures live?
- Are they in the correct language, and do they have signatures?
- How fast can you produce them by worker, crew, and date?
- Where can things be more efficient and more compliant?
If any answer is "not sure," we'll show you how Harvust can take it off your plate. Schedule your free audit!
