Contractors Discuss The Multi-cultural Workforce

A recent Lawn & Landscape Online poll showed that of 157 respondents, 70 percent listed finding labor as their biggest human resources dilemma each year. However, business owners can reduce the impact of labor shortages by taking advantage of the federal government’s H2B program, which makes legal immigrant employees temporarily available to businesses with a labor need. That program, as well as other strategies to follow when hiring multi-cultural employees, were covered at the “Managing a Multi-cultural Workforce” pre-conference workshop at this year’s Lawn & Landscape School of Management, currently underway from Feb. 10 to 13, 2001, in San Diego, Calif. (for more information about the workshop, click here; for more information about the conference, click here: www.lawnschool.com).

Multi-cultural workforces have also been the topic of several threads on the Lawn & Landscape Online Message Board (www.lawnandlandscape.com/messageboard). The following excerpts about managing multi-cultural labor first appeared as general conversations on the message board. The responses have been edited for space and clarity, however, the overall meaning of the conversations have not been altered:

THREAD TITLED: “Mexican Workers”

Posted By Charles Shelton
It seems that I am going to have to start using Mexican workers in order to expand and grow. How do you guys find them? How many of you presently use them? And are you happy with their performance?

Posted By John Blake
Charles, I foresee 2001 as my last season without Mexican help. Many bigger companies here in central Ohio are doing just that and are growing.

Posted By Andrew Hardscape
Mr. Shelton, if it wasn't for Hispanic workers, I would be out of business, seriously.

Mr. Blake, why wait? Start recruiting Hispanics now. You will wonder why you didn't do it sooner. The way we came across our first one was this: I went to an apartment community in our area where 80 percent of the residents are Hispanic. I went on a Friday night and put help wanted notices at each mailbox area. One day later I got a call, and he became our first Hispanic employee. Three years later we still have him, and he has gotten very good at what we do.

In all honesty I have more respect for my Hispanics than I do for any Americans that work here.

Posted By Elisama Puente
Mexican workers are inevitable. More and more companies are looking at this labor option with every season that passes. The H2B program is an Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) program set up to provide businesses, such as yours, with foreign labor. This labor is temporary. By that I mean that it is not considered immigrant labor. Although it is temporary, up to one year minus one day in many cases, there are many benefits that employers can enjoy from this labor pool:


• A dependable workforce for the period of time that covers your season.
• Employees that are contracted for a set wage.
• Employees that are not allowed to work for anyone else other than the business that contracts them, without risking deportation.
• Employers can request multiple-entry visas that will allow employees to go back to Mexico and return to the states if the employee has an emergency situation. This is of great benefit to the employer, because the employer can schedule the duration of time the employee can be away without fear that the employee will not be able to return.
• These employees are perfectly legal. They are assigned legitimate social security numbers and can file for income tax returns.
• Recertification is available for two more periods after the initial period for a total of no more than three years.

These are just some of the benefits that accompany the use of H2B workers.

THREAD TITLED: “Mexicans”

Posted By Kerry Matejka
Any suggestions on hiring Mexican help?

Posted By Chuck Twist
H-2B visas - use ‘em or loose ‘em! They can only work for you. They can pay you back for the expense of getting them up here. It costs $3,600 to $6,000 for an agent that I know. He can do the recruiting, or to save money, you can do it. But you need to have a connection, or get a visa to recruit in Mexico. Most cannot even drive a car, much less have a drivers license. Most do not speak any English, but they are the best workers and most dependable workers you'll ever have - if you treat them right. They will need cheap housing also. No more than $25 per week.

Posted By Andrew Hardscape
If you are a small company looking for Hispanic workers, I would suggest trying to find some in your community. It is easy - all you have to do is drive, look, stop and ask.

If you’re a small company and are recruiting your first Hispanics, I don't recommend H2B. The reason is because you have to find the H2B workers, housing, transportation, and more than likely, they speak very little English. If you can find a legal, local, Hispanic individual, more than likely they already have housing, they may have transportation and they may speak enough English to communicate with you.

Posted By Chuck Twist
Andrew is right. You are not required by law to provide housing, with these types of visas, but you'll have to help them find cheap housing. I found some of my first Hispanics as described by Andrew. I even asked a Mexican guy if he knew of any workers. When he said no, I then offered him $100 if he could find me a couple of guys that had "legal" work papers and could speak a little English. The guys were on the front step next Monday morning ready to work.

Posted By Elisama Puente
About finding workers on the streets: If it works for you, go for it. My only concern for you would be that you are indeed getting legal workers. There are many folks out there working with falsified documents. If you suspect this, my advice is either get them legal status, or don't bother with them. They could be a financial hazard for you in the long run.

THREAD TITLED: “Immigration”

Posted By Andrew Hardscape
I was in a seminar today relating to employee management, etc. I found out more about the H2B program, and I found out about a tax law that is new to me regarding immigration. Why do we not receive this information from the government on a regular basis? H2B is a great program but I don't think it is a good substitute for the government not properly informing us. The government should hold yearly training seminars across the country and send out updates so we can stay on top of the issues. I also think the government needs to make better accommodations for the existing illegal aliens before we bring more people in for H2B.

I take the required information from my workers, and I do not ask any questions unless something jumps out at me. But the law has changed such that we have to electronically file a Social Security number to verify its validation. If a number is invalid, it sends up a red flag, and INS is notified.

So I don't understand why the government can't make a program that allows existing illegal aliens already in this country, that have stayed out of trouble, etc. to get their visas and allow them to stay nine to10 months a year, just as the H2B guys do.

Posted By Chuck Twist
If the INS gets wind that the guys were here illegally, they can be banned from being able to get a visa for five to 10 years. The government doesn't care if Mexicans come here; they just want them to go through the system first to check their background. Just wait until you get raided and lose all of your employees in mid-season. I agree though, there is not enough information out there concerning immigration policies.

Posted By Phil Nilsson
Andrew, the seminar you attended pointed to the problems; what about the solution? The population is aging. Workers in the "right" age bracket are declining, so the workers will have to come from "some other place". That place is Mexico.

Posted By Andrew Hardscape
Phil, the seminar discussed the solution. The only solution is to use immigrant workers. There are programs, but if you are a virgin to using Hispanics, I don't recommend the program and neither did the folks doing the seminar. There are many reasons for this. If you are a veteran with using Hispanics, the program is great (if you’re wealthy). The workers don't just need to come from Mexico. I have only ever had one Mexican work with me; the rest have been from Honduras or El Salvador.

We need a system where an employer can enter information off a work permit into their computer on the Internet and get an instant response - not one to 10 days later. The INS needs a site on which users can click on verifying a work permit, enter numbers, age, etc. Then the INS will say yes this number is good, here is a photo to use to compare, or no this number is fraudulent.

Posted By Chuck Twist
Andrew, you could do the H-2B yourself. I do it! It is not that difficult at all, but you have to learn the ropes, and they seem to put kinks in it all the time.

The first step is to work with you state’s Department of Labor. Then they will instruct you to attempt to recruit American workers according to their methods. You only have to recruit for 10 days. After you show that you could not find qualified Americans workers, the information is sent to the regional Department of Labor for their review. The last step is to send a different application to the INS. This of course is in a nutshell, and there are a lot of "tricks" to doing it right. You also have to offer and pay at least the prevailing wage in your area.

Posted By Andrew Hardscape
Yes, proving to the state that we can't find workers is a joke. My ad will say: “Landscape laborers needed: minimum wage; work in extreme heat and weather conditions; heavy lifting; long hours; must be able to work weekends.”

Paying the prevailing wage in my area is no problem. I love my Hispanics, and have I have no intentions of skimping on them. Life is too short to worry about an unhappy laborer over a few dollars.

Posted By Chuck Twist
You are correct; it's not hard to prove that Americans are not available to do this kind of work. My ad states: “Lawn maintenance worker $5.50/hr., Feb. 1 to Dec. 20, 2001. 40-50 Hrs.+ Mon.-Sat. Must be able to work in extremely hot and cold conditions at a rapid pace. Needs some mechanical inclination and be able to lift 75 pounds. Drug testing.”

I get from zero to two applicants per ad. Those have yet to meet the qualifications.

Posted By Sammy Mow It
Do you really expect to get a great worker for $5.50 per hour?

Posted By Andrew Hardscape
Sammy, to be part of the H2B program there is a game to be played. You are required by your state to run an ad in the paper on your own and through the state employment agency for so many days to prove that no qualified people applied. So to make sure no one applies, the ad has to sound as negative as possible. Then you move to the next step in the H2B process.