Living Wage - WOTC Tax Credit

Living Wage

Introduction
Implementation
Tax Credits (WOTC)
In The News

Work Opportunity Tax Credits (WOTC)
An Amendment

Currently, employers can claim a tax credit up to $2,400 for first-year earnings for low-income individuals that are retained for at least 400 hours in a given year.

One of the targeted groups are 18 to 24 year old residents of an Enterprise Community (EC). As a boost to the growers, workers, and to economic development in Immokalee, (which is an Enterprise Community), it is proposed that this targeted group be amended as follows:

tax credit would be increased to $4,800 for farmworkers residing in an EC that are paid an effective average hourly rate of $8.50 per hour.
the wage period would be over a minimum of 1000 hours.
the provision would be extended from the current one year to three-years for agricultural entities that employ farmworkers.
the upper age limit would be extended to a 59 year old.

Those participating agricultural companies (vegetable growers, citrus growers, nurseries, and packing houses) would be able to become certified by the Employment Services (ES) division (or approved equal) as Living Wage Companies. This would allow use of the country of origin/living wage label, which states, "Grown and Picked in the USA by Workers Paid a Living Wage". The "Buy Living Wage Produce" Campaign would be implemented initially in Immokalee, Florida followed by the State of Florida and the nation.

Benefits to the agricultural entities need to be qualified and documented but just a few would be increased productivity, less turnover and more loyalty. This program would be an investment towards stabilization of the work force.

For the community a $4,800 / year increase in salary for each Immokalee area farmworker (10,000 total) at a 50% implementation rate could result in as much as $25 million per year of new income through this new program.