Landscape Management, April 2017

sacrifice so you have to provide them with a positive working environment and a good offer Landscape companies employing Puerto Rican workers hire them directly by recruiting on the island or through an agency Employers typically cover flights and arrange housing for employees Companies say its a necessity If the recruits had the financial means to leave the island to search for employment in the U S they would have done so already Unlike the H 2B program there are no wage requirements other than U S state and federal laws Merkler who is working with Martins agency expects to start his new recruits at 1150 1250 an hour the same rate he pays local workers CleanScapes has done its own recruiting in Puerto Rico Giraldo and a few of his staff members set up meeting times in coordination with the islands Department of Labor almost like a job fair he says They do interviews and offer jobs on the spot Giraldo estimates the costs to be around 2000 per employee More importantly he noted its complicated The logistics of bringing someone even from another state to be so far away for three months or more its a challenge he says You can also go with a recruiter It will cost you more money but if it fits your budget they will do the logistics for you Russell Landscape Group worked with an acquaintance from Puerto Rico to do its recruiting on the island Russell estimates it cost the company about 1000 per recruit for travel and upfront money the company provided the employees to get on their feet Martin whose agency charges a flat fee per worker says recruiting a worker from Puerto Rico is about the same price or cheaper than the cost of participating in the H 2B visa program Similar to H 2B costs vary based on travel expenses whether youre working with an agency or going it alone and other factors Trial and error The CleanScapes team has hired about 30 Puerto Ricans from two trips to the island over the past few yeas They were hired on three month contracts with the option to stay longer Four are still employed by CleanScapes Others have left the company to join family members 50 LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET April 2017 on the East Coast or they have returned to the island Of the 75 workers Russell Landscape hired from Puerto Rico there are only a few remaining they work in the companys Nashville branch It was quite a flawed effort Russell says of his companys attempt at recruiting from Puerto Rico Many of them were just not the quality of worker that we were accustomed to And a few of them were very good but became homesick or returned to their home country for whatever reason Russell acknowledges his companys lack of success may have been due to poor recruiting Continued on page 52 Clay Martin Rules and regs Companies looking to hire workers from puerto rico must comply with public law 87 it requires employers who are recruiting on the island to obtain authorization by the Secretary of labor and Human resources of puerto rico according to Odemaris Chacón a labor attorney with Estrella based in puerto rico Employers also must provide workers with contracts in English and Spanish A violation of these provisions is punishable as a misdemeanor For more information contact the Employment Service Division of the puerto rico Department of labor and Human resources 787 625 3137 WEB EXTRA Get sample contracts and a letter template in the Web Extras section at LandscapeManagement net Cover Story