Byline: ON THE JOB by Bureau of Labor and Industries For The Register-Guard

Question: My brother and I own and operate our small farm as a partnership. I have two teenage daughters whom I would like to employ this summer. What are the employment/tax laws regarding this? We would like to

Answer: Your question raises several important issues for Oregon agricultural employers:

If your daughters are younger than 18, they are considered "minors" under Oregon's child labor laws. Minors are usually limited both in the kinds of work they may perform and the number of hours they may work. However, there are exceptions for minors working for their parents and minors working in certain types of agricultural jobs.

The general rule is that before an employer may put a minor to work, the employer must fill out an application for an annual Employment Certificate and submit it to BOLI's Wage & Hour Division. The employer may not employ any minors until the application has been approved and an EC has been issued to the employer. Employers can download the application on our Web site at www.oregon.gov./boli/WHD/CLU.

An important exception in response to your question is the one for minor children working for their parents. The law actually permits parents and people standing in their place as parents to employ minors in "any occupation at any time," per Oregon Administrative Rule (OAR) 839-021-0297.

Another important exception is for agricultural, as it is treated differently than other industries when it comes to child labor. For example, if you want to employ other minor employees and they are not working on power-driven farm machinery and are simply picking crops, you probably will not need to submit an EC application. But if power-driven farm machinery is involved, you not only must submit the application, but you also must ensure that your employees have undergone a certain amount of training in using the equipment.

Once you have the child labor issue figured out, you must then determine whether you are required to pay your daughters minimum wage. Although parents/employers are often surprised to hear this, there is no general exemption from the minimum wage law when your employees are also your children. But there is leeway for you because you are an agricultural employer.

Employees who are immediate family members of the agricultural employer are exempt from minimum wage.

As to employing other individuals, both federal and state laws provide minimum wage exemptions for "small" farms. But note that the definition of "small" is different for each law and is based on the hours worked in a calendar quarter. It is too detailed to explain here, but see our Web site at www.oregon.gov/boli and go to FAQS/Fact sheets and then click on Agriculture. Employers in small farming operations must take care to be sure that they are exempt under each law before deciding not to pay minimum wage.

There are also several minimum wage exemptions for hand harvesters. One is for minors who are 16 years old or younger, as long as they are paid on the same piece-rate basis as older workers. Federal law requires that the parent or person standing in place of the parent also be employed on the same farm when the children are migrant or seasonal workers.

The second exemption is for hand harvesters who commute daily from their permanent residence, regardless of age, if they are paid on a piece-rate basis and if they have been employed in agriculture less than 13 weeks in the previous calendar year.

Now that we've covered child labor and minimum wage laws, where does overtime fit in?

In general, agricultural employees are exempt from overtime as long as they are engaged in agricultural employment for 100 percent of the workweek. But remember that federal and state laws define "agriculture" very narrowly.

For example, employees who perform work involving products not grown by their own employer must be paid overtime. This includes workers who sell gift items in a retail shop operated by a nursery, or who pack fruit grown by a neighboring farmer.

No, we didn't forget that part of your question was about taxes! However, we are not experts in that area, and we recommend that you call the Internal Revenue Service and the Oregon Department of Revenue regarding your questions. Their numbers are listed on our Web site.

It must be obvious by now that agriculture has some very specific provisions that apply. For that reason, we suggest that you call our free technical assistance line to make sure there are not other factors that you did not specifically describe in your question that may impact the answer.

Call (503) 731-4200, press 4 for Technical Assistance for Employers.

There is also additional information on our Web site at www.oregon.gov/boli.

On The Job is written by the staff of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. Contact BOLI at (503) 731-4200, or BOLI, 800 N.E. Oregon St. No. 32, Portland, OR 97232.