General Laborer

POSITION SUMMARY:

Plant, cultivate, and maintain crops and plants, to pick, ship and sell to our customers. General maintenance of facilities, grounds, and equipment is also required.

MISSION:

It is our Mission to provide the finest quality product and services to our customers in the most efficient and honorable manner possible, while maintaining a reasonable level of profitability. By providing meaningful employment opportunities/ careers to individuals who take pride in their work and demonstrate a respectful attitude, we feel we can achieve this Mission.

SAFETY:

Safety is a top priority at Dan and Jerry’s Greenhouses. You will take an active role in promoting a safe working culture by attending monthly safety meetings. We want all employees, customers, and guests to Arrive Safe, Be Safe and Leave Safe.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES (comprehensive, but not limited to):

Greenhouse Production:

• Responsible for all aspects of plant growing including seeding, pruning, transplanting, spacing, watering, hanging baskets.

• Set, pull, sort and store plants according to variety, growing needs and shipments.

• Perform irrigation activities, including setting up and moving irrigation pipes and equipment and watering plants both by hand and automated irrigation systems.

• Move containerized plants using rolling carts.

• Unload carts/bins/trucks/wagons at designated market and sort product for quality issues and repackage for sales.

Field Production:

• Perform field maintenance activities including pulling weeds, thinning crops, and spraying plants with herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides.

• Remove trash, rocks, and debris from the planting/ harvest area.

• At harvest, will be instructed to select vegetables based on specifications set by the supervisor.

• Operate tractors, sprayers, cultivators, planters, mowers, plows, disks, and other farm equipment.

Facility Grounds and Equipment Maintenance:

• Construction, uncover and/or recover greenhouses, with or without the use of power tools.

• Maintain facilities grounds including weeding, mowing and snow removal as necessary.

• Assist with the maintenance and repair of equipment.

• Be able to operate equipment with or without direction, in a manner that protects the operator, visitors, other employees, plants, crops, trees, facilities and equipment.

EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS:

Prior experience working on a nursery handling both manual and machine tasks associated with commodity production and harvest activities.

• Level 1: minimum of 3 months prior experience

• Level 2: 4+ years of experience or exemplary performance

• Level 3: 7+ years of experience or exemplary performance, consider an expert and assisting in training new hires

• Level 4 (Team Leader): 10+ years of experience or exemplary performance, assisting supervisor/manager with supervising greenhouse operations.

EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS:

• None

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES & PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES:

The qualifications listed here are guidelines. Other combinations of education and experience may provide necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform this job.

• Demonstrated ownership for decisions and actions.

• Demonstrates a strong work ethic, flexible with work hours, and willing to be available when necessary.

• Does what it takes to get the job done.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

• Work is to be done in the field and/or greenhouse for long periods of time.

• Workers may assist in loading trucks with nursery products up to 50 pounds and lifting to a height of 5 feet. If there are heavier items, they will require a team lift.

• Workers should be able to work on their feet in bent positions for long periods of time.

• Work requires repetitive movements and extensive walking.

• Allergies may affect worker’s ability to perform the job.

• Workers will be required to bend and stoop to pick crops, cut the vines using a knife and carry crops to bins, carts, wagons and trucks.

• Workers are exposed to wet weather early in the morning through the heat of the day. Extreme temperatures may range from -10 to 100+ F. Workers may be required to work during occasional showers not severe enough to stop operations.

• Workers should be physically able to do the work required with or without reasonable accommodations.

WORK ENVIRONMENT / TRAVEL:

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.

• Typically, those in this or comparable roles will spend most of their time working side-by-side with employees in a production and greenhouse environment with few physical hazards.

• Local travel may be required.

• Environments can at times be dusty, warm, and humid.