Minimum stay on fruit picking farms?

by Felicia
(Sweden)

If I want to do fruit picking, how long do I have to stay on the farm? I am going to Australia this year and I'm planning to travel, but in case I run low on money I would like to know how long I "have to" work at a fruit farm. Is there a minimum length of stay?

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Employment not imprisonment
by: Birgit

Felicia, fruit picking is employment, not imprisonment. The place where you work is a farm not a labour camp. You are not chained or shackled, you are free to quit your job and leave whenever you like.

Farmers would obviously like to see you stay longer. They may ask you how long you plan to stay before they give you a job, they may try to get you to commit to a minimum of two weeks, four weeks, whatever. But even if you do, it's still a farm not a prison. You can still leave if you don't like it.

Since it's casual labour there usually isn't even any requirement to give notice. Though you certainly should, to give a farmer a chance to find a replacement for you. It's just the right thing to do. A day or a few days is usually enough for that. It depends where the farm is. And you don't HAVE to. If there is a real problem on a farm and you want to get out, you can any time.