The food processing landscape includes companies both large and small. As a 100% commercial pest management company, Sprague protects some of the largest processing and warehousing facilities in the United States from harmful pests. We also safeguard numerous local food processing and service facilities throughout the West Coast that deliver safe food to their communities.
The mandates of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) are designed to put in place additional safeguards to protect our nation’s food supply in facilities of all sizes. The roll out for compliance dates has been staggered by business size and includes exemptions, but this has led to confusion as to what is a ‘small business’ and what exemptions apply to your operations.
According to the FDA, a ‘small business’ is defined as a business (including any subsidiaries or affiliates) employing fewer than 500 full-time equivalent employees. The limit of 500 employees includes all employees of the business and is not limited to the employees at a particular facility.
To help facility and QA managers navigate this issue, FDA has released a draft guidance document that shares the FDA’s current thinking on the following questions:
- What does ‘full-time equivalent employee’ mean?
- If you have a business with multiple subsidiaries or affiliates, how should you go about determining your number of employees?
The document also offers a method for managers to calculate full-time equivalent employees and provides examples of the types of situations businesses might encounter when trying to determine their number of employees.
At Sprague, we carefully study the latest FSMA rules and mandates, and how they impact your facility’s pest management and food safety programs. Rely on us to make sure your facility and staff have access to the latest information and training to remain compliant