“Progress is good. With the exception of those affected by frost, the grapes are looking good. Now everything will depend on the weather in August. It shouldn’t rain any more, we’ve had enough water…” At the heart of his vineyard in Bech-Kleinmacher, Josy Gloden, president of the Domaines Vinsmoselle cooperative wine cellars since 2017, is keeping his eyes glued to the sky, as are all his colleagues. At first sight, the harvest should start around 20 September… unless something changes. Uncertainty is part and parcel of the everyday life of winegrowers, and everyone accepts that.

But it’s only one aspect of the difficulties they face as the crucial harvest period approaches. Recruitment, too, is causing them to break out in a cold sweat. And not just a little...

A “flood” of procedures

Every late summer, Gloden calls on around twenty employees for the grape harvest. Nationwide, 600 seasonal workers are employed, according to a figure provided by the Wine Institute (or Institut viti-vinicole, IVV). There’s no shortage of labour: Vinsmoselle is expecting more like 800. “French, Germans, Poles, Romanians... For the past few years, a Polish family has been coming back again and again... Like retired people, a lot of people are interested in making a bit of pocket money, or at least earning a bit more,” says Gloden.

If there are any complications, it’s more likely to be found in the obstacles to recruitment. “Our family farms-- the pillars of our winegrowing industry--are overwhelmed by costly and tedious administrative procedures,” said the minister for agriculture, food and viticulture, (CSV), last week on the margins of the first “Waïbaudësch” roundtable organised at the Château de Senningen. Health and social security minister  (CSV) and labour minister  (CSV) were also present.

Pay slips and occupational medicine

The aim of this roundtable was to achieve the first simplifications on the paperwork front. Gloden gave two examples to illustrate the point. “Let’s imagine a contract that starts on 25 September and ends on 10 October. We have to issue two different pay slips. That’s a lot of extra work. And the problem as a winegrower is that we don’t have the human resources to take on these tasks. Our job is to be on the outside looking in.”

Second example: occupational medicine. Classified as ‘high-risk,’ the job of grape-picker requires a visit to the doctor to decide whether the seasonal worker is fit to work. The problem with this prerequisite is that between the time the appointment is booked and the time it takes place, the contract is often already over...

“It is crucial that all employees are able to carry out their activities in safe and healthy conditions. However, there are currently elements in the field of occupational health that need to be adapted to enable employers to be sure that the workers hired meet the health conditions required for their engagement as seasonal workers,” minister Deprez declared last week.

Harmonisation

At the end of the Senningen meetings, the three ministries involved agreed to speak the same language from now on and to remove various obstacles. “In accordance with the sector’s requests over the years, the various administrations will harmonise the definition of casual work in agriculture, enabling it to be applied to all existing legislation,” the government says. This was a commitment made in the coalition agreement of November 2023. The “health” aspect is just one aspect. A comprehensive package of announcements has been made, to be implemented from the 2025 harvest.

Taking account of seasonal variations

On the “organisation of work” chapter, “the Labour Code authorises agricultural, wine-growing and horticultural businesses to introduce a reference period of up to six months. However, the procedure for adopting these periods poses a problem for wine, fruit and vegetable producers, as they cannot be planned in advance for seasonal work, the start and duration of which depend mainly on weather conditions,” says the government.

“We have to take into account the impact of seasonal variations on the activity of agricultural businesses. In this way, we have succeeded in facilitating the administrative procedures for seasonal workers without compromising social benefits such as the minimum social wage, holiday entitlement and employees’ rights in general,” explains labour minister Mischo.

Legal certainty

“At the same time, the executive has decided that the maximum duration of the flat-rate system for casual work will be extended from 18 days to three months, with a flat-rate tax rate of 3% payable by the employer.”

“The aim of harmonising the maximum duration of casual work contracts is to provide legal certainty for farms. However, it is conditional on rigorous administrative monitoring of the duration of contracts, aimed at preventing any form of social abuse,” reads the minutes of the Waïbaudësch.

Dedicated Jobdays

The government is also promising to introduce measures “to optimise the matchmaking between job applicants and agricultural, viticultural and horticultural businesses.” These measures include the organisation of dedicated Jobdays, such as the one organised by the national employment agency Adem and the IVV at the latter’s premises in Remich on Thursday 18 July between 13:00 and 16:00, as well as the possibility given to applicants for international protection of being recruited “without a pre-test of the market.” “A helpline will be set up for employers to obtain information on the status of third-country nationals,” it says.

Be familiar with the texts

Finally, the public authorities intend to work more closely with employers, by “updating” the “Leitfaden” (guidelines) “listing all the procedures involved in hiring occasional and seasonal employees in agriculture.”

“The scope will be extended to include arboriculture and horticulture. These updated guidelines will be sent to all farms likely to hire occasional or seasonal workers,” notes the government in its following the Waïbaudësch roundtable. A “detailed checklist” is being prepared “to help operators” and will “serve as a practical guide to ensure that recruitment is effective and complies with the regulations.” It will be supplemented by information sessions on employment law.

As for the weather, it’s hard to say. But on these long-standing demands of the profession, the horizon seems a little clearer. “We have been heard,” says Gloden, the president of Domaines Vinsmoselle.

This article was originally published in .