If you're an ag employer, you know updating your hiring paperwork can quickly become a time-consuming headache. We heard from our growers about how they scoured the internet for updated government forms every year, waited for lawyers to review company policies, and how rolling it all out felt like such a burden. We decided to change that by introducing customizable common documents on Harvust, like a mini LegalZoom for farms. And it's been popular! All of our customers now use a handufl of our common documents in their hiring packets!

These common documents include federal and state documents like:

• W-4
• I-9
• WH-516
• State W-4s, and more!

But also company-specific document templates like:

• Drug and Alcohol Policy
• Direct Deposit Authorization
• Sexual Harassment Policy

Here's why our growers, from family-owned operations to large-scale labor contractors, have made the switch:

‍

1. No More Waiting (and Paying) for Expensive Lawyers or Consultants

Need to roll out a new policy quickly? Traditionally, farms had to rely on costly lawyers or consultants to draft and update their standard policies. Having seen hundreds of policies across our customers, they all look similar! Harvust's common documents are expertly designed by our attorneys, easy to customize (think "fill-in-the-blank" style), and included—no extra bills or delays.

‍

2. Increase Employee Understanding

Our common documents are visually simple and standardize employment policies into plain language (no lawyer-speak) that every farmworker can understand, regardless of their reading level. And because this is agriculture, they all come translated into Spanish. Some court cases have invalidated employment agreements because the employees were unaware of what they were signing! By using Harvust's hiring documents, your employees get consistency and clarity, and you get to relax knowing everyone is on the same page and you're legally protected.

‍

3. Automatic (and Consistent!!) Version Control

We handle all the federal and state form updates for you. Stop checking a bunch of websites for updates! We'll archive the old form and automatically migrate all your hiring packets to the new one. This means you no longer have to track down every old version across your organization (If you still use paper forms, this is even more important!). Plus, whenever company policies need updating—whether due to regulatory shifts or internal changes. You can make your edits once in Harvust and we'll ensures everyone always has the most current and compliant version. The less time you spend in Microsoft Word the better.

‍

4. Spend Your Time Farming, Not Managing Paperwork

We've seen farms using our common documents reduce their document management workload by about a third, allowing farm owners and HR pros to redirect that saved energy back into operations.

Since it's the beginning of the year, we saw these benefits recently:

• A family farm in Washington that just signed up, went from no formal hiring packet to a complete, compliant set of documents overnight, using just Harvust's common documents. The one office gal (who does everything!) now has peace of mind.
• A labor contractor and long-time customer switched to our standardized drug and alcohol policies and direct deposit authorization forms this year, eliminating ongoing updates and cutting their administrative workload.

‍

The bottom line is that preparing hiring packets and monitoring for updated forms is a job you shouldn't do anymore. It's boring, and it takes too much time. Focus only on the hiring forms that are detailed and truly unique to your company. It's time to leave document maintenance behind and get back to farming.