Wash. Rev. Code » Title 50 · Chapter 50.04
Revised Code of Washington

Wash. Rev. Code § 50.04.150 (2026)

✓ current as of May 2026
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Except as otherwise provided in RCW 50.04.155, the term "employment" shall not include service performed in agricultural labor by individuals who are enrolled as students and regularly attending classes, or are between two successive academic years or terms, at an elementary school, a secondary school, or an institution of higher education as defined in RCW 50.44.037 and in the case of corporate farms not covered under RCW 50.04.155, the provisions regarding family employment in RCW 50.04.180 shall apply.
Agricultural labor is defined as services performed:
(1) On a farm, in the employ of any person, in connection with the cultivation of the soil, or in connection with raising or harvesting any agricultural or horticultural commodity, including raising, shearing, feeding, caring for, training, and management of livestock, bees, poultry, and furbearing animals and wild life, or in the employ of the owner or tenant or other operator of a farm in connection with the operation, management, conservation, improvement, or maintenance of such farm and its tools and equipment; or
(2) In packing, packaging, grading, storing, or delivering to storage, or to market or to a carrier for transportation to market, any agricultural or horticultural commodity; but only if such service is performed as an incident to ordinary farming operations. The exclusions from the term "employment" provided in this paragraph shall not be deemed to be applicable with respect to commercial packing houses, commercial storage establishments, commercial canning, commercial freezing, or any other commercial processing or with respect to services performed in connection with the cultivation, raising, harvesting and processing of oysters or raising and harvesting of mushrooms or in connection with any agricultural or horticultural commodity after its delivery to a terminal market for distribution for consumption.
[ 1989 c 380 s 78; 1977 ex.s. c 292 s 2; 1957 c 264 s 1; 1947 c 215 s 3; 1945 c 35 s 16; Rem. Supp. 1945 s 9998-155. Prior: 1943 c 127 s 13; 1941 c 253 s 14; 1939 c 214 s 16; 1937 c 162 s 19.]

Notes:

Effective date—1989 c 380 ss 78-81: "Sections 78 through 81 of this act shall take effect on January 1, 1990." [ 1989 c 380 s 91.]
Conflict with federal requirements—1989 c 380: "If any part of this act is found to be in conflict with federal requirements which are a prescribed condition to the allocation of federal funds to the state or the eligibility of employers in this state for federal unemployment tax credits, the conflicting part of this act is hereby declared to be inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict, and such finding or determination shall not affect the operation of the remainder of this act. The rules under this act shall meet federal requirements which are a necessary condition to the receipt of federal funds by the state or the granting of federal unemployment tax credits to employers in this state." [ 1989 c 380 s 89.]
Effective dates—1977 ex.s. c 292: See note following RCW 50.04.116.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 9 cases, 1961–2015 · leading case: Schuffenhauer v. Dep't of Emp. Sec., 543 P.2d 343 (Wash. 1975).
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Schuffenhauer v. Dep't of Emp. Sec., 543 P.2d 343 (Wash. 1975). · cites it 4× “140 and, alternatively, whether he is exempt from assessment because the services performed fall within the agricultural labor exemption of RCW 50.04.150. We uphold the commissioner’s determinations that clam digging performed for appellant is employment by him within the terms…”
Amburn v. Daly, 501 P.2d 178 (Wash. 1972). “” This meant that those who were previously covered under the former definition would, in the future, be excluded from unemployment benefits under RCW 50.04.150. At issue was the applicability of the new (1941) definition so as to prevent the payment of benefits accruing under…”
Fisher v. Emp. Sec. Dep't, 822 P.2d 791 (Wash. Ct. App. 1992). “See RCW 50.04.150 (student agricultural labor); RCW 50.”
Fors Farms, Inc. v. Washington State Emp. Sec. Dep't, 450 P.2d 973 (Wash. 1969). “) RCW 50.04.150. 2 The result will be to modify the unemployment tax assessment against Fors insofar as the four field supervisors are concerned, and to affirm the assessment as to the employees in the processing plant and the feed mill.”
Dairy Valley Prods., Inc. v. Dep't of Emp. Sec., 551 P.2d 1035 (Wash. Ct. App. 1976). · cites it 8× “It was and is the Department’s position that the 13 employees were not within the agricultural labor exemption of the Employment Security Act, RCW 50.04.150. 1 *771 Dairy Valley requested and was given a hearing before a departmental appeal tribunal.”
Daily Herald Co. v. Dep't of Emp. Sec., 566 P.2d 929 (Wash. Ct. App. 1977). “We affirm the judgment entered by the trial court reversing the decision of the Employment Security Department. Farris, C.J., and Williams, J., concur.”
In Re Lamp, 358 P.2d 966 (Wash. 1961). “[1, 2] The agricultural-exemption section of the statute (RCW 50.04.150) provides that the term "employment" shall not include service performed, "On a farm, .”
State of Washington Emp. Sec. Dep't v. Ostrom Mushroom Co., 358 P.2d 966 (Wash. 1961). “The agricultural-exemption section of the statute (RCW 50.04.150) provides that the term “employment” shall not include service performed, “On a farm, .”
Jude I. Doty v. Dep't Of Labor & Indus. (Wash. Ct. App. 2015). “The general definition of "employ" in the WAC excludes certain limited types of work: The term "employ" does not include newspaper vendors or carriers, the use of domestic or casual labor in or about private residences, agricultural labor as defined by RCW 50.04.150, or the use…”
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