Employee Conduct Guidelines
The following is a list of rules that employees are expected to follow, and if not then the likely hood of
early termination is greatly improved. Below each item is a description to help explain the rule in a bit
more detail.
• Absolutely no profanity or obscene gestures
I do not use any foul language while in the fields and expect the same from all employees. I have
told all my supervisors not to use profanity of any kind and they will follow and implement this rule.
I treat the work environment like a nice family setting or public location, where this language is not
tolerated.
• No teasing, name calling or fighting
Ninety five percent of all the employees are roughly the same age, between 13 and 15 years old,
and we are all working together to accomplish the same job and all working under the extreme
outside conditions. There is no reason for any one to pick on someone else for any reason! If
someone is a bully and likes to cause trouble, then we just fire that person rather fast. If another
worker is causing you problems of any kind, then immediately let your crew leader know,
and please let me know as well. Even if you need to call me at home, please do. A problem like
this left un addressed will only become bigger. If there are two workers that just don't like each
other or get along, I will normally make sure that they are always separated and never work together.
• No horse playing, running, pushing or jumping
This rule is mainly one for safety. If employees start to get to careless on break and start horse
playing then there is the possibility that someone could get hurt. Even though it would only have
been an accident I don't want to take the chance and have any one get hurt in any way. So please
try and avoid any unnecessary running around or horse playing.
• No throwing objects (i.e. corn tassels, items out of a school bus window)
Throwing objects of any kind, especially at someone, is not allowed. The tassels, when thrown,
sail through the air very far, and if they hit another worker in the eye could actually cause extreme
damage to the eye or even loose the eye all together. So mainly for all workers safety, no throwing
objects of any kind is allowed. And nothing should ever be thrown out of a school bus window.
• No climbing on irrigation systems in the fields
Every field that we are in will always have some kind of irrigation systems in them. These systems will
never actually be on while we are in the field. These are very expensive irrigation systems that cost the
farmers literally hundreds of thousands of dollars and are very important to ensure that the corn gets
enough water. A worker should never climb on these systems or play with them in any way. Climbing on
them or messing with them can be extremely dangerous, because these are a high voltage devices.
• No weapons
There is absolutely no reason to ever bring any kind of weapon of any kind. Any thing as small as a pocket
knife to as big as a gun is strictly forbidden. Leave all your weapons at home please. Remember we are
all on the same working team in the summer.
• No stealing (especially someone else's lunch)
This is really based on the honor system, because it is impossible to watch everyone's personal items and
lunch. All employees are placed in a crew and hence all crew members lunches and gear are also together.
There will be times when all this gear is placed on a bus or in a pile at the end of corn field. If you come
across other crews gear pile please leave it all alone. It is also important to realize that if you bring cell phones,
CD players or other gadgets that have value, you are responsible for them.
• Pick up all of your trash and personal items
At the end of morning break and lunch break, make sure you pick up all your garbage and place it back in
your lunch box or back pack. I should never see any wrappers or bottles or cans anywhere in the field, and
if I do then you get in trouble. Treat the break areas just like a park area; where you pick up all your trash.
And make sure to take all other personal items with you at the end of the day. You would be surprised at the
number of sweatshirts, jackets and rain coats I see laying at the edge of the field and hanging on the personnel
carriers (tractors) at the end of the day. Make sure you collect all your gear before the bus leaves.
• Stay out of people's yards
A lot of the time the corn fields we do are very close to the farmers yard or neighbors yards, and it is very
important to respect their property and avoid taking break in their yard or walking across it.
• Stay out of roads and streets
Again this is a safety issue. When the bus gets to the field in the morning, it normally parks off the road if
possible, but sometimes it has to park on the edge and off the street as best it can. The worker will always
be unloaded with the door facing the field and away from the street. So don't walk in the road for any reason!
Cars often don't slow down when they go by us and are not expecting people to be walking around a bus
to walk in the road and hence will not be looking for you. So if you are dumb enough to do this you take
a good chance to get hit by a car. So again, for your safety, please never walk in the road, always use the
ditch to walk in or the corn field edge.
• Follow all directions from crew leaders
Each crew has there own crew leader or supervisor. This person is there to help keep you safe, show you
how to do the corn detasseling job and to help you out as much as possible. All the crew leaders have been
instructed on these rules along with others I give them at meetings I have for them. Follow what directions
they give. If you have a supervisor who is not following any the rules I have set forth or is doing something
wrong, then please let me know about it so I can fix the problem.
• Follow all safety rules
All the safety rules need to be followed to ensure that no worker gets hurt. The biggest safety rules are all
workers must wear their safety glasses or eye glasses and work gloves while working. If worker does not
wear these items, then worker will be let go. All other safety rules and common sense safety precautions
should be followed as well.
• No possession or consumption of drugs or alcohol
Any one caught with any illegal drugs or alcohol will be immediately fired and the parents called along
with the police.
• No smoking, unless 18 or older, and then only on designated break times
Smoking is not allowed while working or in the corn field or by gas truck.
Transportation related guidelines
• Obey bus drivers and bus rules
The bus drivers are regular school bus drivers and you are expected to follow their rules they have.
If you cause trouble on the bus or disobey the driver you will be fired. It is a major safety factor
to not distract the driver in any way. The bus driver is solely responsible for his or her bus and whatever
rules they might have, including assigned seats if need be.
• Do not leave trash or personal items on bus
If you take morning break or lunch break on a bus, do not leave any trash on the bus. This is the
same rule as eating outside. And make sure to take all your personal items with you, it is not the
bus drivers responsibility to take care of your items.
• Stay in designated areas at bus pick up / drop off locations
The designated areas are allowed by the town, school or place of business as a courtesy for us to use.
Please respect these areas as if they were your own. Do not leave any trash around these areas or
vandalize any thing. If I get complaints from this location then I may have to discontinue pick up from
this town. So if you see someone else causing problems, tell them to stop or if they don't, let bus driver
or me know about it. Please stay in the designated bus pick up location and do not stray to far. Some
buses are first coming from another town and perhaps could be running a bit late. If we are scheduled to
work on a given day, then a bus will be there to pick you up.
• No loitering in businesses at bus pick up /drop off locations
Some pick up/drop off locations are a place of business. Please do not loiter in or near the business. Please
do not even go in, remember at the end of a work day you may be very wet and dirty and the last thing the
owner or manager wants to do is have to clean up a bunch of mud or water off the floor. Please respect their
business and they will allow me to continue to have bus pick up / drop off location there.
• Worker is financially responsible for any damage they cause to bus
Any worker found responsible for damage of any kind to a bus, car or someone else's personnel property
will be terminated and wages will be held from their weekly paycheck to pay for damages.
Employees who violate any of these guidelines could lose their job.