I have viewed many employment and farming contracts in my time and am constantly amazed at how many poorly written and illegal contracts exist.

Recently, I reviewed a contract milking agreement that had been ‘IRD Approved’ – despite having more holes in it than Swiss cheese. It was full of misrepresented facts and had the employer paying the contractor directly instead of the monies owed paid by the dairy company. Where’s the transparency here?

Sadly, this is becoming too common. Promises of more money than the industry average immediately say to me that there is a greater than even chance that the farm will most likely be in the boondocks, have disgusting housing, unscrupulous farm owners and/or higher than average costs.

Farms are businesses and a stable workforce with happy capable people will always be more profitable than those with badly treated, disgruntled staff and business partners.

Sharemilkers and contract milkers are often in a vulnerable position with their housing and place of work all in one. This makes it more challenging for them to respond effectively when they are being treated unfairly. They quit – they lose their job, their home and often, their chance at being employed again as the industry labels them ‘unstable or unreliable’.

Let’s get real.  If you were to lose more money and sanity by staying on a farm in a contract being breached by the employer of that contract, what would you do? Without resources to fight the breaches in court, and no attempt by the employer to redress the situation, wouldn’t the most prudent thing be to leave the farm? It certainly makes sense from a business perspective.

On the flip side, there can also be dishonest and unscrupulous employees and contractors. Those that abuse their employer’s honesty and integrity through theft, blatant disrespect to family, co-workers, animals and machinery alike are to name but a few infractions. These are the people that often present well at interviews, have friends and family step in to represent their former employer and referees. I recommend speaking with the vets and others who service the farm they are currently on or have come from for an unbiased and honest assessment of what was happening on farm and providing some balance. Always ask for permission to do this first!

Now this may sound a bit harsh, but after nearly twenty years in the business, I firmly believe that you can put lipstick on the pig, but it is still a pig! In other words, some employment situations and or employees are so bad (pigs) the only way to make them attractive is to dress them up.

Let’s all get together to clean the industry up. No more suicides of young employees left to milk 600 cows on their own, employees literally over worked and underpaid or sharemilkers who work with farm owners who refuse to ensure adequate water, feed and infrastructure to meet the basics of animal welfare. No more employees who deliberately interfere with effluent systems to cause environmental breaches and fines for their employer with the sole intention of being paid to leave or who steal, lie and abuse their position.

Can we do better? Yes we can!

So please, if you are looking at a contract or employee for the coming season, involve someone you respect for a second opinion at least, and make sure that there is no lipstick!  Along with specialist employment agencies, Rural Support Trusts can often help with this review.