Working a season, and what to settle before you travel

Seasonal work is the shape that makes the two-country life affordable: a block of weeks abroad, then months at home. It also has the widest gap between what a job sounds like and what it pays.

A season is a range, not a date. Weather moves it, and a "twelve week" block can start late and finish early. Ask what happens if the crop is late, whether there is work in the meantime, and who decides when it ends.

Filter by block length on IkkoPind and the listing states the weeks. Confirm it with the employer before you travel.

Hourly pay is predictable. Piece rates pay for what you pick, so a slow day, bad weather or poor fruit is your problem rather than the employer's. Piece rates are lawful in some circumstances and there are rules about what they must average out to, and those rules are the thing to read on the Fair Work Ombudsman's pay pages before you accept.

Ask for the rate in writing, and ask what an average worker actually earned in a day last season.

This catches more people than anything else. There is often a grower, and a separate labour hire company that places you with the grower and pays you.

That matters because in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and the ACT a labour hire provider needs a licence, and you can check the licence yourself on that state's register before you go. It also decides who you talk to when something goes wrong.

• What is deducted, and is it per week or per day?
• Does it continue on days when there is no work?
• Is the accommodation tied to the job, so that leaving one means leaving both?
• Is transport to the field optional, and what does it cost?

Get the offer in writing, confirm your work rights for that country on the Department of Home Affairs pages rather than from the recruiter, and put the dates into your Roots calendar so you can see what the block costs you at home.