BRITISH COLUMBIA – Minimum piece rates for hand harvesting specified farm crops will increase by 3.9% on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024.
The increase applies to 15 agricultural crops harvested by hand as specified in the employment standards regulation. The hand-harvested crops are peaches, apricots, brussels sprouts, daffodils, mushrooms, apples, beans, blueberries, cherries, grapes, pears, peas, prune plums, raspberries and strawberries.
This is an annual increase based on B.C.’s average annual inflation rate in 2023 and is consistent with the 3.9% increase to the general minimum hourly wage that came into effect on June 1, 2024. After legislative changes were made to the Employment Standards Act in spring 2024, increases to the general minimum wage and piece rates will come into effect each year on June 1 and Dec. 31 respectively, based on the previous year’s average inflation rate.
Quick Facts:
- Each of the 15 hand-harvested crops has its own minimum pay rate.
- Farm-worker piece rates in B.C. were increased by 11.5% in January 2019 and 6.9% in January 2024.
- B.C.’s farm-worker minimum piece-rate system has been in place since 1981.
Source: Province of BC News
