Social Sustainability
Seasonal Worker
Definition
A seasonal worker is employed only during a specific period of the year, typically tied to harvests, tourist seasons or weather windows. Seasonal work dominates labour-intensive agriculture — fruit, vegetables, flowers — where workers are frequently migrants, hired through labour intermediaries, paid piece rates, housed by employers, and excluded from social protection and union access.
References
This reference provides supporting context for how “Seasonal Worker” is defined and used.
Source imported for editorial provenance.
Overview
How it is used
The concept structures agricultural labour standards, audit protocols for harvest periods, seasonal worker migration schemes (such as bilateral agricultural worker programmes) and heat-stress protection rules.
Why it matters
The people who pick much of the world's fresh produce work at the sharp edge of labour precarity; seasonal work is where supply chain labour standards are most tested.