This resource empowers farmworkers to understand and exercise their legal rights and protections related to housing and employment to help prevent exploitation and achieve access to justice in the state of Vermont.
How to Use This Handbook
This handbook provides general information about dairy workers’ housing and employment rights under federal law and Vermont state law. You can use the table of contents to find information about specific issues. Note that you may have additional rights under local municipal law—especially in the area of housing health and safety. This handbook
does not cover those additional rights. Additionally, the standards described here are the minimum standards with which farms must comply; landlords and farm employers are free to go above and beyond these minimum standards.
The federal and state rights described in the main section of the handbook apply to ALL workers at any dairy in Vermont, whether big or small. Workers at larger dairies—generally dairies with seven or more workers—have some additional legal rights. If you work at a larger dairy, make sure to read the section at the end of this handbook called “Working at a Larger Dairy” on page 44.
The handbook provides general legal information for educational purposes only. It is not meant to substitute for legal advice and should not be relied on for that purpose. For legal advice, you should consult an attorney who is licensed in Vermont.
Also, if you still have questions after reading the handbook, you can contact Migrant Justice at (802) 658-6770.
Acknowledgements
The Center for Agriculture and Food System’s Food and Agricultural Law and Policy Clinic originally produced this handbook in partnership with Migrant Justice. CAFS’ staff members Aurora Moses and Sarah Danly, along with students in the Spring 2016 Food and Agriculture Clinic (Alexis Agredo, Andrea Folds, Andreia Marcuccio, Charlotte Mikat-Stevens, Amy Pickering, Sarah Seese, and Jeffrey Sokolik) conducted the initial research and drafting of this handbook. Katie Michel, JD/MELP ‘15, provided careful legal review and additions, and Sophia Kruszewski and the Fall 2018 Food and Agriculture Clinic students (Ashleigh Angel, Caroline Gordon, Jeanette King, and Korina Matyas) finalized the handbook. The entire CAFS team provided additional review, edits, and support along the way. Michelle Sayles created the illustrations for this handbook, and Kelly Cochrane-Collar of Mad River Creative designed the layout. 2023 updates were provided by CAFS’s summer intern Alicia Borg and Senior Research Fellow Emily Spiegel.
CAFS thanks Migrant Justice and the Milk with Dignity Standards Council for their courageous and effective work on behalf of immigrant dairy workers.
This resource was produced in part with a generous grant from the Vermont Community Foundation.
Suggested Citation
Migrant Justice & Vt. L., Grad. Sch. Ctr. for Agric. and Food Sys., Housing and Employment Rights for Vermont Dairy Workers, https://www.vermontlaw.edu/sites/default/files/2019-01/Migrant_Book_Citations_WEB.pdf.
