Do you work in an agricultural lab......?

Question

AND did your position require little than a highschool diploma? there's a high turn-over rate at the ag. lab i work at and i believe it's because of their wages. they start at $8/hr. (I live in California where min. wage is $8.00 - ha!-i think.) here's my question: do you think it's a low starting wage for a position in an ag lab requiring only a h.s. diploma?

Answer 1

I say it should start at least $9-$10 an hour :-)

Answer 2

I worked at an ag lab in California as well...same one haha? I think it was min. but I was also getting credit for work experience on my ag degree though for my second year of college. The pay should be higher because the job sucked, and you do have to know what you're doing. 8 hrs, in a closet work space, no windows, testing chemicals on feed and manure all day---and in CA! Should be more money and require more than a H.S diploma. I know the girl I was working with had a masters in chemistry.

Answer 3

Agriculture start wages and laws (in the US) that exempt employers from paying any overtime have been status quo for a very long time. Ag labs use to be few and far between but are now very commonplace. Requirements to work entry level positions, basically as a glorified dish washer in most cases, are just rated/ paid by the knowlege level required to fill the position, a high school diploma. Some time back the federal government set down a lot of regulations for "farm" work. If you are a farm you can claim exemptions from a great many regulations, like not requiring building permits to do structural building/ additions, not needing licensed "firemen" to monitor and run high pressure boilers, not needing licensed electricians and plumbers to do work/ inspections, as well as not having to pay high wages/ overtime for anything that is on the "farm". Doesn't matter if you have a lab. You could even be doing tissue culture which is obviously quite advanced in the scope of the farm. It was a way to control the spiraling costs of food. Even though a trip to the market for a weekly shopping will leave you in shock as to the cost of food, statistically we pay less today for our groceries than we ever had. So the numbers say. Do I think it is a low start wage, sure, but like anything else you can make it up a bit if you stay with a position, but these jobs have a huge turn-over in employees and even lab work at the bottom rung is just cleaning. Getting a higher level of education doesn't even equate to a higher wage of any significance. Any good employer will do better for you when your entry time is served. But with agriculture you need to be an owner of your business to even do alright, all others just make ends meet. Is the nature of the beast.