In this article, unless the context otherwise requires:

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1. "Agricultural employee, permanent" means any employee who is over sixteen years of age, who has been employed by a particular agricultural employer for at least six months during the preceding calendar year and who is engaged in the growing or harvesting of agricultural crops or the packing of agricultural crops if packing is accomplished in the field. "Agricultural employee, temporary" means any employee who is over sixteen years of age, who is employed by a particular agricultural employer, who has been so employed during the preceding calendar year and who is engaged in the growing or harvesting of agricultural crops or the packing of agricultural crops if packing is accomplished in the field. If otherwise qualified, a person shall be considered an agricultural employee if an agricultural employer pays the wages of the employee for work performed for the employer’s benefit or on his behalf, even though the supervision of the employee, the bookkeeping and the issuance of payroll checks are by a person other than the employer. In calculating a workday of an agricultural employee, one hour or more of employment in any one day shall be considered a workday. "Agricultural employee" also includes any individual whose work has ceased as a consequence of, or in connection with, any current labor dispute or because of any unfair labor practice and who has not obtained any other regular and substantially equivalent employment. "Agricultural employee" does not include any individual who:

(a) Is employed by his parent or spouse or by an immediate relative.

(b) Has the status of an independent contractor.

(c) Is employed as a supervisor or in a confidential capacity or as a clerical employee or a guard.

(d) Is employed as an executive, professional or technical employee.

(e) Has quit or has been discharged for cause.

(f) Is a tenant or sharecropper and reasonably directs or shares in the management of an enterprise engaged in agriculture.

(g) Is engaged in hauling or stitching functions.

2. "Agricultural employer" means any employer who is engaged in agriculture and who employed six or more agricultural employees for a period of thirty days during the preceding six month period and includes any person who provides labor and services on one or more farms as an independent contractor if such person, for a period of thirty days during the preceding six month period, employed six or more employees in such work. In calculating the number of agricultural employees employed by an agricultural employer or provided by an independent contractor, one hour or more of employment in any one day shall be considered a day of work. Agricultural employer also includes any employer who is engaged in agriculture with less than six agricultural employees and who voluntarily elects to be subject to this article by filing a request in writing with the board.

3. "Agriculture" means all services performed on a farm as defined in section 23-603, including but not limited to the recruiting, housing and feeding of persons employed or to be employed as agricultural employees by agricultural employers.

4. "Board" means the agricultural employment relations board.

5. "Farm" means any enterprise that is engaged in agriculture, that is operated from one headquarters where the utilization of labor and equipment is directed and whose tracts of land, if consisting of separate tracts of land, are located within a fifty mile radius of such headquarters.

6. "Labor dispute" means any controversy between an agricultural employer and his agricultural employees or their representative concerning terms, tenure or conditions of employment or concerning the association or representation of persons in negotiating, fixing, maintaining, changing or seeking to arrange terms or conditions of employment.

7. "Labor organization" means any organization or any agency defined in sections 23-1301 and 23-1321.

8. "Person" means one or more individuals, labor organizations, partnerships, associations, corporations, legal representatives, trustees, trustees in bankruptcy or receivers.

9. "Professional employee" means:

(a) Any employee engaged in agricultural work that either:

(i) Is predominantly intellectual and varied in character as opposed to routine mental, manual, mechanical or physical work.

(ii) Involves the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment in its performance.

(iii) Is of such character that the output produced or the result accomplished cannot be standardized in relation to a given period of time.

(iv) Requires knowledge of an advanced type in a field of science or learning customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction and study in an institution of higher learning.

(b) Any employee who has completed the course or courses of specialized intellectual instruction and study described in subdivision (a), item (iv) and is performing such work, or is performing such work or related work under the supervision of a professional person while acquiring specialized instruction.

10. "Representative" means any individual or labor organization.

11. "Supervisor" means any individual who has authority to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward or discipline other employees, or responsibility to direct them, or to adjust their grievances, or effectively to recommend such action, if such authority requires the use of independent judgment.

12. "Ultimate consumer" means the person who purchases an agricultural product for consumption.

13. "Unfair labor practice" means any unfair labor practice listed in section 23-1385.