Farm Worker accommodation explained

Providing your farm worker's accommodation onsite has many benefits for productivity, worker happiness, as well as increased efficiency. Not only do workers benefit from saving more money with the reduced cost of rent, but being given a warm, dry home improves their wellbeing too. After all, workers that are getting sick from an unhealthy home end up costing you through lost labour and sick days.

But how do you work out the cost-benefit of providing accommodation, and will your workers really appreciate the extra investment? Well, to answer the last question first here is a Google review from someone living in a HouseMe unit thanks to the investment made by their boss.

How temporary worker accommodation is structured:

Firstly, there's an important difference in the types of accommodation offered by an employer. These are broken down into either board or lodging:

• Board - where an employer provides accommodation and food as part of payment.
• Lodging - where an employer provides only accommodation as part of payment.
  
  

Both are allowed but the employer must pay its employees at least the relevant minimum wage set annually under the Minimum Wage Act 1983. The minimum wage must be paid for each hour worked on the farm and cannot be averaged over a season. Employees must be paid their wages in money, and cannot be paid through other non-cash benefits except for deductions from their wages agreed by the employees for accommodation or other goods or services. Employers and employees may agree that the employer will provide accommodation to an employee, and also that the cost of that accommodation will be deducted from the employee’s wages before they are paid.

It's important to remember that fair market value for the accommodation needs to be used to work out how much is deducted from the employee's wages for the accommodation. If you're providing a unit as accommodation then care should be taken in working out what a fair market rate would be to rent the same unit.

For many farm owners, offering farm worker accommodation has a financial benefit. If the unit is Hired from HouseMe, the deductions from the wages could cover the weekly cost of the unit, and when buying a unit, it will eventually become a capital asset funded through the employee salary deductions.

When tossing up between hiring or buying a transportable unit for farmworker accommodation, there are several things to consider:

1. Seasonality - do you need all-year-round accommodation or only during busy periods?
2. Cashflow - would you rather a larger investment paid off over time or smaller monthly payments?
3. Long-term - might you need the space dedicated to housing for other things in the future?

Unlike with a fixed dwelling if your circumstances change, or the farm is repurposed, the accommodation isn't something that has to be worked around. It can be removed or relocated very easily!

You can see our available rental units here or discover our range of transportable units to buy here. Have more questions about how a transportable home would work on your farm? Contact us and a member of our team will be in touch to discuss your needs.